Night Solace
by Knyghtshade
Summary: A new gundam has been found admist the oz debris in space. 06? To be trusted or no? What does 06 fear? Rated to be safe. Not cannon events. No Shounenai. 06 is not Zechs! :P And I don't care if it's MARY SUE!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing merely the sixth pilot.

Warnings: some blood and violence

Yep, I am adding to the ranks of 06 pilots.

Helpful critism is appreciated and asked for. Flames are scorned and compliments adored. This is my 2cd fic. and the 1st that really counts.

HDTQWHDTQW

"There is nothing here except debris." Heero's eyes frowned over the view from the carrier's window. Nothing was left but massacred Oz suits and mobile dolls.

An arm plopped over his shoulders. "Man, you're not kidding!" Duo exclaimed. "But, I wanted to have some fun kicking Oz butt." There was a defiant whine in his tone. "It almost looks like Wuffers went on a justice rampage again."

"You know it wasn't me, Maxwell. It wasn't any of us." Wufei leaned on the wall. "Perhaps the Alliance arrived here first."

"There are no Alliance suits here," Heero stated his glare intensified, giving way his puzzlement. Only the Zero system could hope to fly away from this many enemies.

Quatre spoke up, "There is still someone alive out there. I can feel them." He pressed a hand to his chest as though to strengthen his sense. "They are very weak, and in that direction," the blond said and indicated a cluster of dead suits floating absently.

"I'll go," Trowa's voice came over the intercom. He was in Hanger 2 with his gundam Heavyarms.

"Acknowledged," Heero, said.

The four of them waited while Trowa took off. After a few moments, he appeared in their line of sight. Heero maneuvered the thrusters to turn the carrier following Trowa's flight. Heavyarms quickly vanished into the dead, metal forms.

"There is a gundam here." A strain in Trowa's voice revealed his shock.

"What!" Duo yelled, "You mean Oz has built a gundam?"

"No."

"Huh?"

"There is no indication that Oz built this gundam. It appears that this is the gundam that took out the dolls." Trowa's voice had settled back into its normal calm. "I am receiving no answer on any frequency."

"Tow it in," Heero ordered.

"Roger." Trowa soon reappeared with what looked like a mere melted hulk of black gundanium.

"The pilot is still alive," Quatre said taking off for the hanger.

Dou stood straight taking his weight off Heero's shoulder. "Come buds let's check it out."

The four of them grouped outside the hanger doors until the light flashed green. The outer door was sealed and the pressure stabilized. Trowa had laid the new gundam on the floor and racked Heavyarms. The gravity had not yet reset and so they all floated through the antigrav to the odd gundam

"Are you sure that is a gundam?" Wufei demanded.

"Yes, it seems to have wings similar to Zero," Heero, said.

"It has been heavily damaged." Wufei might as well have said 'weakling, I would have done better'.

The damaged wings did not wrap entirely about the gundam. The five pilots were able to get through the gaps and reach the hatch easily. Heero moved to hack into it while the others waited in wary silence. A hiss of air alerted them to 01's success. They all had a gun trained on it before the hatch opened far enough to reveal the blood soaked form.

Tbc

Looks shorter here... Oh well it's just the 1st ch. Bear with me while I get the story straight. It's all in pieces in my head. I am also trying a slightly different pov style. Not sure how long this is going to end up being. Might turn it into an arc.

Does it suck or no????


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: violence.

HDTQWHDTQW

Quatre gasped as he took in the still figure slumped in the battered cockpit. "There is too much blood. We have to stop the bleeding now."

"That's an onna!" Wufei yelled. "Why is an onna piloting a Gundam?"

"Dude, didn't your wife pilot Shenlong?" Duo asked.

"Woman should not be pilots. They are too weak."

"Riiight."

Heero kept his gun trained steadily while Trowa and Duo each reached into the black-winged Gundam's cockpit to grasp the girl. They had her lifted halfway out when the girl stirred some.

Quatre spoke still focused on the girl. "Careful, she's frightened."

"Weak onna." Wufei muttered.

Heero saw a flash of gold from the girl's slitted eyes just before she exploded into action. She was fast, pulling Duo towards her using him to twist around. Bringing her feet up she slammed Trowa in the stomach. In the antigrav, the force of her kick caused Trowa to fly backward into Heero knocking them both into the enfolding wings of the sixth gundam.

Heero watched for an opportunity to fire, but Duo was inadvertently shielding her. The blood-covered girl used Duo as a brace and pushed out of her Gundam leaving Duo to crash into the cockpit. Heero squeezed off a shot. A plume of blood flowered from her shoulder. Wufei, distracted by his need to dodge flying forms of 01 and 03, missed her exit from the Gundam. Quatre could feel the girl's fear and ferocity; he thought that she would not fight them if they just gave her some space. The female pilot pushed off a wing and was out into the open air of the hanger.

"Five, four, three, two, one." Heero counted down. As he spoke the last syllable, the gravity returned to the hanger. The unsuspecting girl was still in the air. An echoing thud announced her hard meeting with the floor.

Before she had a chance to recover Wufei had followed her out and held his katana to her throat.

"Don't move." He hissed.

The girl's eyes gleamed with a deep rage, a rage that cared not for ones own life. She snarled and rolled towards Wufei creating a crimson choker about her neck. Disturbed at such a look from a mere onna Wufei reacted slowly. She crooked her fingers and gouged his leg with long fingernails. Tears opened down his white pants slowing stained red from his blood.

"Like a little scratch is going to stop me, onna!" he yelled.

She smirked, darkness shadowing her golden eyes. She performed a move only Trowa should have been able to twist into and kicked Wufei in the head. He crumpled to the cold floor.

Duo tried to aim at the girl, but she was moving faster than Heero. He twitched his finger towards the trigger only to feel a harsh sting in his neck. "What the..?" He felt carefully around the area and encountered a fine needle piercing deep into vulnerable flesh. He frowned. Was this supposed to hurt him? It seemed as senseless as her scratching Wufei. He swayed, vision suddenly blurring.

"Guys! Stop it! I think she'll stop fighting us if we just give her some space!" Quatre cried.

Heero studied the female pilot crouched warily before them. A fine tremor was running through her muscles and her checks flushed red while the rest of her skin was nearly as white as Wufei's clothes. "She is fevered."

The girl hissed in warning as Trowa stepped forwards. Her strange eyes flicked searching the hanger. Probably looking for an escape. There was none. Duo joined the circle training his own pistol unsteadily on her.

Heero frowned, "Status, 02."

"Dizzy, vision's blurry. She got me with some sort of ninja needle," Duo replied.

"Duo now is not the time for jokes. No one uses needles in a fight," Heero snapped.

"Well what do you call this?" Duo held forth the dark needle.

A low, cold laugh issued from the girl. "Find solace in the kiss of night." That single sentence seemed to use up the last of her strength as she pitched forward and lay still.

Tbc

Well now, that was fun don't you think?

Doesn't seem very nice does she? Oh well this is how it's always played out to start with. We'll just have to wait and see how they get along till the next chapter or two.

Many thanks to my beta. You know who you are. :)


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Don't own yadda yadda, blah. Does anyone???

HDTQWHDTQW

Heero gathered up the girl while Trowa hoisted Wufei up and Quatre supported Duo. The pilots trooped to the infirmary where Trowa took the needle over to the analyzer. Heero worked at securing the female pilot to the bed with Gundanium bracelets and chains.

Quatre was tending to their fallen brothers. "I don't think that she would have attacked if we hadn't touched her."

Duo moaned, "We had to touch her or else she would have bled to death in her own cockpit."

"Yes, but you grabbed her wrists like you were chaining her," Quatre murmured feeling Wufei's scalp carefully.

"Then she's going to be in a lovely mood when she wakes up. Even Heero would have trouble breaking out of the things he's putting on her," Duo gasped out.

Trowa looked at him in concern, "Duo?"

"It's getting harder to breath and I can't see anything in focus."

Heero moved to cataloging her wounds. "She has at least four broken rips, extreme bruising of the abdomen, five deep slashes across her arms and legs, and two gunshot wounds. It seems she has a fractured shin bone as well."

"Ouch, she's been roughed up recently then," Duo said. There was an inkling of pity in his voice. Sure she had needled him, but being roughed up was harsh. He probably would have reacted similarly in her position.

The analyzer chirped. Trowa read the data. "The needle was filled with a toxin called Belladonna atrope, or Nightshade.

"Hah! Hahahah," Duo exclaimed, "That's a good one."

The three standing pilots gazed at him in askance wondering if their baka was still lucid.

"Don't you get it? Nightshade. Find solace in the kiss of night. She meant the kiss of poisoned death. I like this girl!" Duo crowed then started coughing.

"Shut up and breathe, Duo," Heero snapped.

"We need the antidote, or Duo will likely die," Trowa said. "It's something called Physostigmine."

"I will search the Gundam. She should carry the antidote with her." Heero disappeared out the door at a near run.

Quatre glided over to the still girl. "We should bandage the rest of her wounds."

Trowa joined him carrying a needle and thread. With a grimace, Quatre started stitching the gashes closed while Trowa cleaned out the bullet wounds. They had nearly finished before Heero finally returned with two slim metal cases and his laptop. Silently he laid his burden on the counter and wired his laptop to the first of the cases, setting it to hack the locks. It took only a few seconds for the case to click open.

Heero lifted the lid to reveal two gleaming rows of syringes. "Here." He lifted one and read the label. "Two units."

"Ah, come on man, your not really going to stick me with that are you? That needle is like three inches!" Duo moaned.

"Shot or death?" Came the ultimatum.

"Just get it done."

"Hold still this has to hit a vein."

The antidote took effect quickly and Duo's breathing eased. "Well that was fun. I think I'll just stay here awhile."

"Hn." Heero left him to check Wufei. His breathing was irregular. Heero peeled up an eyelid. The obsidian pupils were dilated as Duo's had been. "I believe she got Wufei with her poison as well. Will the antidote have an adverse affect if there is no poison?"

"The file says nothing about it," Trowa said. "You could be right; he should not still be out from one kick."

Heero administered the antidote. Wufei's eyes opened minutes later. "That onna had better be dead. This is an injustice! She only hit me once." He muttered several other incomprehensible things in Chinese.

"She poisoned you, Wuffers, she got me too. Nasty stuff." Duo grinned. "She's good."

"Poison? She used poison? Weak onna, cannot even fight fairly." Chinese streamed from Wufei's mouth.

"That was not very nice, Wufei," Quatre admonished. "Where did you learn such awful language?"

"What'd he say? Come on tell me, you know I haven't learned Chinese yet, Duo begged.

Heero left the others quarrel about the best curse words and returned to the bridge setting the autopilot for earth where their next mission awaited. After messaging the Doctors their position and about the female pilot, Heero settled against the infirmary wall to await the pilot's awakening.

Tbc.

Yay another chapter finished. I am switching to the girl's pov next time.

So is it still worth reading??? Reviews are the pillars of the muse.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. I do own Solaris Roku Taiga and Nightshade.

NOTE: For those of you who read ch3 before 9/17/07 then you should reread it as pertinent information has been added.

'Thoughts'

"Speech"

SRTSRTSRT

She was in either a hospital or infirmary. The smell and feel of the hard bed beneath her revealed that much. The weight of heavy manacles around her wrists and ankles warned that she was not among friends.

Listening, she could hear five sets of lungs pumping the air within the rooms. Judging by the lack of other sounds, she was most likely in an infirmary. Hospitals were never this quiet. Human hearing should not have been able to pick up the soft breaths around her, but well… her hearing was rather acute. Her hearing was slightly muted compared to normal, so her Control was hovering around 90. High, very high.

Training kept her face passive while she struggled to figure out where she was and why. She easily tranced into memory recall. 'Ah' on a mission on L4 she had been captured and forced to endure two days of interrogation before Oz slipped up. She had then been flying to the next mission point when she ran into an Oz fleet.

She had survived, but with extensive damage. That explained her Control level. She had been forced to drop to 0 in order to survive. Now she was dealing with the reverse as always. It would level out gradually.

'Time to wake up' her eyes fluttered open. Instantly tension filled the room. 'Observant buggers, just waiting to interrogate me.' She coolly studied the five boys who watched her warily. They looked young, but she knew the look in their eyes. It was that of an age far beyond that of their form. She knew it well. She saw it every time she looked in a mirror.

One boy was sprawled across a bed to her right. The one she had gotten with a dart. They most have found the antidotes. His eyes were an odd shade of blue, almost purple. He appeared lazy and inert, but his hand tucked under the thin pillow. He probably held a gun.

Leaning on the metal wall of the ship was a tall boy with hair falling over piercing green eyes. 'Interesting hair style.' So, they were still on whatever spaceship they had picked her up in. They had brought Nightshade aboard with her so it had to be a carrier.

Next to meet her gaze was a blond boy with sea green eyes. He seemed the persona of innocence, but his eyes held the same darkness as all soldiers.

An ebony-haired boy sat lotus on the bed behind the purple-eyed boy. He was glaring at her. 'Still mad you lost to a girl?' She had clawed that one. They must have realized she had poisoned him too.

At the foot of her bed, a cold, blue-eyed boy watched her, a .45 caliber grasped loosely in hand. Silence reigned between them for a long time.

"Who are you?" he asked.

'Well?' she put to her Control as always. There were only a very few people that were preprogrammed in as being allowed to know her information. So far she hadn't met very many of them. She waited but none of the usual warning shocks came. 'What!' That meant these five boys were programmed into Control. She could speak to them without painful consequences. She paled. This had never occurred before. These five boys had to be the other pilots. They were the only others programmed in besides her trainer that she knew of.

"Who are you?" the boy asked again. Frost edged his words.

Her mouth fell open and she began to speak to the five she had wanted to meet for so long. "Designation: 06, Ranking, Gundam Pilot. Class, assassin. Name Solaris Roku Taiga. Gundam, Nightshade. Specialty poisons. Weapon of choice. Chain blades."

A crease formed on the boy's brow. "You would willingly tell us this?"

She nodded, "It is allowed."

"Where did you acquire the Gundam?"

"My trainer, Doctor K." Still no shocks warned her from speaking.

"Who is Doctor K?"

"My trainer, beyond that I don't know. I believe he is dead."

"If he's dead where do you get orders from?" 

"I was given over to Doctor J when Doctor K went missing."

There was hidden shock throughout the room. "Doctor J?" the boy demanded.

"Yes."

"What do you mean given over? You make it sound like you were an object given to Doctor J in a will," the purple-eyed boy said.

"I was."

The blond snarled. "You are a human being not some object to be given or inherited!"

She shrugged. "I go where ordered."

The blond looked pained, and opened his mouth as if the say more. A quiet beeping came from a laptop on the counter. The cold-eyed boy straightened up and opened the black machine.

She allowed her eyes to slide shut. It had been a grueling few days and she hurt all over. The excitement of having found the other pilots could not sustain her forever. If Oz had not slipped and left her unchained, she would still be there suffering their irritable tempers. The boys could bug Doctor J if they wanted to know more. She wanted only to sleep. Oblivion wrapped its warm tendrils around her and she sank into it happily.

Tbc…

A new chapter done! So what do you all think? I know. I had her pass out in the middle of a mild interrogation, but she's had little sleep and lost a lot of blood over the last few days. Dropping to 0 Control wipes her out too. What is Control??? Haven't you figured it out yet? Too bad, you'll just have to keep reading.

HDTQWHDTQW stands for the boys' pov

SRTSRTSRT stands for Solaris's pov

Reviews would be nice!!!!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Don't own Gundam wing. Blah, Blah, Blah.

Warning: Duo's life is threatened again. Snicker… poor Duo.

Pairings: None for a long time.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

the meaning of Heero's "Hn"

HDTQWHDTQW

Heero read down the puzzling message quickly. "It is from Doctor G. He says that we should play nice with the little girl."

"Man, you'd think that the Doc would know better than to send a message as cryptic as that to the Perfect soldier. He doesn't get things like that." Duo complained. "Bro, Doctor G is trying to say that she is on our side and we should treat her as such." He focused back on the person of the debate. "She's out of it again."

"It is surprising that she woke so soon, considering the condition that she is in," Quatre said piling her folded, outer clothes on the counter. They had snipped them off in order to dress her wounds. Not there had been much left of them, but if she was anything like Duo or Heero, she had things secreted away in the seams that she would wish to reclaim if they released her from the restraints. The narrow, black chain she had worn as a belt clinked softly into a coil atop the savaged clothes. Lastly, Quatre set her tall, black boots neatly on the floor below.

The usual, "Hn," was Heero's reply to Duo's interpretation.

Duo took that to mean. What should we do? "If Doctor G says that she is one of us, shouldn't we let her go? 'Cause leaving her chained to a bed is not considered playing nice."

"Hn."

Before Duo had a chance to put Heero's 'Hn' into intelligible words, the laptop beeped again. It took a little longer for Heero to finish reading this time.

"Doctor J says that Doctor G is an imbecile. 06, Solaris Roku Taiga, is trustworthy, and that I should release her. She takes orders from him. He has been using her elsewhere, but now that we have met we might as well work as a team."

"I told you that's what the Doc meant," Duo crowed.

Heero nodded and unlocked the manacles allowing them to dangle to the floor. 'Never know, might need them again, maybe for a certain know-it-all baka.'

"Did he mention that metal on her neck at all?" Trowa asked.

"No."

Duo bounced off the bed, "Well I don't know about you, but I am starving. First one to the galley gets to cook!" He started to trot forward, but Trowa and Wufei were already disappearing down the hall.

A firm hand on his braid jerked him to a halt. "You will walk. Slowly," Heero growled.

Duo shrugged, grinning, and laced his fingers behind his head. "'Kay." 'Works like a charm every time. Just make them all sick once…' Fine by him, he hated cooking.

Quatre followed them, "She is going to need clothes when she wakes up."

Heero glanced back. "There is a duffle bag of stuff in her Gundam."

"Why didn't you bring it before?" Quatre asked grumpily.

"It wasn't necessary at the time."

"Of course," Quatre sighed. "I will get them for her." He walked to the hanger wondering who had made it to the galley first. Trowa could cook rather well, but he was in the mood for something of Wufei's. Even with the limited supply, that they had on hand Wufei could make some truly wonderful dishes.

He climbed up the crumpled Gundam called Nightshade. The girl, Solaris, reminded him somewhat of Duo. Hair that was too long for practicality and a penchant for coming up with dark remarks. Their Gundams were similar too. Black wings and dark colors, although Duo's was black and hers a dark red accented with a nearly black purple. Death and Poison.

Quatre reached down and pulled a gray duffle bag from the seat of the cockpit where Heero had left it. 'Maybe the battles would be easier with her help.' He was tired of the cold bloodshed, having to smile and cry, yet feel so frigid inside.

Quietly he returned to the small infirmary and set the bag down. He would shift her to a more comfortable position, but it was dangerous to go near a comatose Gundam pilot. She had not moved when Heero released her, but one never knew. She was going to

have cricks when she woke up. He left to see what they were going to eat.

Heero forcibly restrained himself from killing the resident baka as he was currently blowing incessant bubbles in his cup.

Wufei's eye was twitching. "Duo, must you do that!" he snapped.

"Do what, Wu-man?" Duo asked innocently before latching onto his straw again.

Trowa rolled his eyes as he handed Wufei the ingredients he asked for. An ominous growl emitted from the Chinese cook.

The endless bubbles abruptly cut off as Duo's straw fell from nerveless lips. Wufei, now calm went back to chopping the few vegetables they had. Duo's halved straw fell to the table.

"Sit still and be quiet or you will not get any food," Wufei commanded.

Duo eeped, and made a show of sitting up hands folded properly in his lap. "Yes Ma'am."

The chopping paused.

Heero inadvertently saved Duo from an unfortunate and bloody death. "Do any of you recall what color 06's eyes were?"

Quatre settled at the table with a steaming cup of tea. "No, not really."

"They were black like Wuffers'," Duo chirped.

"Hn," Heero left the subject alone. However, he had thought… no. Duo was right, 'Small miracle', her eyes had been black. Not golden.

Tbc

Hmmm. Might not be the most interesting chapter, but I think I like it. What do you all think? Reviews are the pillars of the muse. Have to go do actual work now.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Don't own

Solaris is MINE!

SRTSRTSRT

She was alone. This knowledge allowed her to wake slowly, savoring the warmth of the shadows between the painful nightmares and harsh reality. It did not last very long. It was the smell. She hated the smell of antibiotics.

A sweep of the infirmary revealed her duffle bag on the floor and an absence of any obvious weapons. They let her go but did not trust her with arms. She noticed her belt coiled on the chair. A feral smile flashed across her face. She did not care to use guns unless necessary. 'So nice of them to leave her all of her clothes.'

She wasn't ready to trust them entirely either just yet. She had told them her stats, but precious little else. She had only told them that much because Control was programmed to trust them. Control could trust whomever it liked. Didn't mean she trusted them. Control's AI was limited. It was there mainly to keep her stable. The Control was smart enough to read a situation and alter its programming accordingly, and so far, the boys had not forced it to do so. They had previously only been acting according to training. Control still deemed them reliable because they had released her.

She gathered up her dark red, leather pants. They, as all of her clothes, were tailored to her form. One of the few good things given to her from her family. She could move easily enough to kill in them, as she had been trained. The boots came next then her chain belt. A black shirt quickly pulled on completed the outfit.

Control was programmed to trust the boys, but it could not tell her anything of them. Her next move would be to reach a computer. Preferably the one in Nightshade. She could use Control to contact and receive orders from Doctor J, but it wasn't the most pleasant ways to communicate. Electric Morse code. She shuddered. No, a computer was definitely the next thing to find before Doctor J grew impatient.

A shower would do wonders for her caked hair, but she was not willing to walk out and ask them for one. A comb would have to do. She worked quickly and braided the sorrowful strands pulling them up into a knot and letting the end fall to her waist.

She located her oriental hair sticks and thrust them into the knot. Oz had stolen the last set.

She turned at last to the ruined clothes folded atop the counter. With the ease of long familiarity, she pulled several needles and picks from the seams and added them to the ones she already wore. A few went to her hair. Oz had torn her braid apart looking for items hidden there. Apparently, someone else used their hair to hide things in only they had gotten caught.

As she moved for the exit, she tugged on half gloves. The studs gleamed over her knuckles. She stepped cautiously out. It took but a moment for her to orient herself to the corridors. 'Nice of the manufacturers to post directions. It was a unique ship. Following the signs, she found the first hanger. A peek within revealed three Gundams not one her own. 'Interesting designs.' She moved onward reaching Hanger 2. 'Ah!' Nightshade was in desperate shape. She wasn't sure if she could repair that kind of damage on her own.

Settling into her cockpit, she smiled darkly. Someone had tried to hack into her systems. She hoped he had memorized the data he wanted because his computer would be crashing soon. She had antidotes for the computer viruses of course, but they were all in her head. Computers were not her strong suit, but she ruled viruses. If they wanted it gone, they would have to ask very nicely.

An unopened message awaited her. Doctor J. "The five that you are with are the other pilots. Heero Yuy is my student and is ordered to work with you. I cannot vouch for the others. I wish you to work with them as a teammate until you receive orders otherwise. These are their files read them and delete."

She nodded. "Orders acknowledged." Reading rapidly she committed their files to memory to be recalled whenever needed and wiped the data from the system. She now had names for the faces. She grabbed a pistol and a few knives and ignoring her wounds, dropped down to the floor. 'Time to meet my team.'

TBC

So… what do you think??? I gave the purpose for Control you all happy know??? I haven't told the reasons behind it yet though. I get the feeling this could be a very long story.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: As on every other page. I don't own.

You should know the symbols by now.

HDTQWHDTQW

Quatre poured streaming liquids into each of the various waiting cups. Small, ceramic tea cups for himself, Heero, and Wufei. Trowa always drank bitter coffee out off and dark green mug. Duo had begged for hot chocolate in his beloved skull and crossbones mug.

A whisper of feet scuffed the floor behind him. He turned fully expecting to see one of the others here to claim their drinks even though he had told them that he would bring it to them. Instead, their newest teammate, Solaris, slinked into the room looking around curiously.

"Ah, you're finally awake. How are you feeling?" Quatre asked. 'She's moves like Duo when he's in Shinigami mode.'

"Fine, thank you."

'So polite. She might actually be able to carry on a proper conversation.' Heero and Trowa were quieter than stones. Duo was intelligent but easily distracted. Wufei would carry on a conversation, but he could be incredibly rude when riled up.

"Would you like a cup of tea, or coffee? We have hot chocolate as well." Watching her out of the corner of his eye as he finished his task he caught the faint grimace of disgust that marred her face at the mention of the last beverage.

"Tea would be welcome if it's no trouble." She settled in a chair at the table visibly making it hers.

"No trouble at all I was just making some any way." Quatre got out another teacup from the case the fragile things traveled in.

Solaris appeared relaxed to him, but a sudden movement at the door found her with a pistol leveled steadily at the intruder. Trowa had one aimed right back. Quatre clucked. "Now, now Trowa you aren't supposed to point dangerous things at our newest teammate if you feel the need to shoot someone go find Duo. At least he would deserve it for one prank or another."

Solaris slid the black weapon into a holster on her thigh. "Forgive me. I was distracted and didn't hear you coming."

Trowa nodded his acceptance and, taking the proffered coffee, vanished back out through the door.

"Don't take his silence personally. Neither he nor Heero actually speak unless it is about the mission. All you get out of them otherwise are death threats and grunts that only Duo seems to be able to interpret." Quatre sat down. "Otherwise Duo's the loud one. Wufei rants if you get him grumpy which is quite easy to do."

The dark haired girl smiled. Quatre took that as a sign to continue. "I on the other hand can communicate like a normal human being."

This statement earned him a raised ebon brow, "Are any of us really normal humans?"

Quatre decided the others could come and get their drinks themselves in favor of a proper discourse. "We are. We have just forgotten that part of ourselves in order to fight with all of our strength. When the war is over we can remember that the human part still exists and wake it up."

Solaris sipped gracefully at her tea. "And if we haven't forgotten our humanity, but never had it?"

"Humanity lies at the very depths of our souls all we have to do is find it."

She smirked cynically. "Perhaps you are right. Only time will tell. I am not so sure. Your tea is very good. I haven't had it like this for a very long time."

Quatre beamed despite the change of subject. Hopefully she would not give in so easily next time. "I am pleased you like it. This blend is called Golden Ray. Do you have any particular favorite flavors?"

"I am rather partial to the Snow Tiger blend."

Quatre thought for a moment. "I don't think I have any with me. Wufei might. We each have our own personal collections, but share them. Heero even has a few."

Loud voices announced the approach of Duo and Wufei, who were arguing over nonsensical things as usual.

"Quatre is making hot chocolate!" Dou sang happily.

"You mean tea." Wufei snapped. "Hot chocolate is for weak onnas and baka children."

"No it's not. Hot chocolate is a very important part of a balanced diet!"

The constantly fighting pair noticed the girl ensconced comfortably at the table.

"Hey! You're up. How you feeling?" Duo asked bouncing for the counter lined with full cups. "Wicked poison attack by the way. Loved the death line. It's way better than Heero's. Ooh! Hot chocolate."

Wufei and Solaris winced simultaneously at Duo's enthusiasm over the coco.

"Baka," Wufei growled slipping into his native language. "I told you, Duo that should not be consumed by men. It is for mere onnas and children. Though you are a child any way so I really have nothing to complain about," he muttered the Chinese words flowing smoothly off his tongue. "That onna probably drinks the stuff too. No, wonder her Gundam was so badly damaged. All that sugar over shocking her system."

"What did you just say? Did you just insult the almighty coco again?" Duo grumbled.

"If you are going to insult it you could at least do it in English or Arabic so I can fight back."

"It's too sweet."

"What?" asked Quatre and Duo?

"Nani?" came from Wufei.

"Hot chocolate it's too sweet. I do not like it. Not all onnas do," Solaris sipped at her tea.

Wufei flushed. "You…you understood what I said?"

"Of course it is the language I was born to after all."

Wufei choked and spun for the exit.

"Wu-man."

Wufei froze.

"You forgot your tea," Duo held out a cup.

"Che." Wufei snatched the cup and stormed out.

Duo wrapped an arm around his stomach laughing his guts out. "I could love you just for the look on Wuffer's face! Finally, someone with a sense of humor not attached to death threats. I think I'll stick with you for now on." He then promptly glomped his current object of dubious affections.

Solaris stiffened. Quatre gasped a warning to Duo. Too late. Solaris pried the offending arm from her neck and threw him against the unyielding wall on the other end of the galley. The resulting thud resounded through the large ship.

Quatre blinked. Solaris was now poised warily in the far corner. He hadn't seen her move after throwing Duo. Of course, he may have been distracted by the sight of his brother in arms sliding down the wall.

"Okay, okay I won't stick with you," Duo groaned. "Owe."

The three other pilots burst into the galley, guns at the ready. "What happened?" Heero demanded.

"Duo glomped onto Solaris and as a result she threw him against the wall," Quatre explained.

"Is that all?" Heero glared down at the crumpled pilot. "Make a little less noise next time baka."

"Sure thing Heero, I will magically place a pillow between myself and the walls so I don't hurt your poor ears and distract you from your precious laptop by thudding loudly into the wall."

"Hn."

"Thank you dearest brother for your sweet concern," Duo added.

Wufei joined the half circle glaring down at 02. "Get up already. It's not like you've never been thrown into a wall before."

"I know, but she throws harder than you do Wu-man," Duo whined.

Trowa just shook his head and left.

Solaris bowed to Duo. "My deepest apologies. I do not like to be touched, and therefore react badly if I don't see it coming."

Duo creaked to his feet. "S'cool happens every time I glomp any of them for very long, so I'm used to it. You're fast. Most of the times I can be out of reach before they grab me." His gaze sharpened in concern. "Hey, are you okay? Did your wounds open up again?"

The girl shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Just a little sore."

Duo didn't buy it. Her brown eyes were nearly black with pain. However, she had that look that Heero got. She wouldn't accept any help for her injuries.

TBC

Not the most interesting chapter I suppose. That's just how it went. Don't flame me for dissing the coco I like the stuff fine, but Solaris hates it. I made up the flavors of tea.

There are a few hints buried in this chapter about Solaris. Most of them won't be guessed until later. They are a bit obscure. Duo won't always act like an idiot. He is just the tension reliever for the gang. I am having the boys be like brothers to each other. NO YAOI at all. They will all get girls eventually.

I am going to write one more short little filler then try to make things more interesting by jumping ahead to mission time.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Don't own.

Sorry for the delay I've had deadlines to meet.

SRTSRTSRT

She wasn't lying entirely. She hadn't reopened the wounds, they were hurting, but that wasn't her problem at the moment. She suffered from Control. She had merely reacted. The blasted AI didn't have to assert control. She was stable. She hadn't tried to kill him. She was fine.

Control's AI could read a situation and change its programming, yet it still took over even in a minor situation like this. She wanted to bang her head on the metal walls, but settled for grinding her teeth. Now she would be in a passive mode for at least half an hour. She was only at 85 but she would now be incredibly slow to react. She did not like being vulnerable even amongst supposed teammates.

The braided boy was giving her a disbelieving frown.

"I am fine honestly. Just try not to attach yourself physically to me and we'll get along."

"Don't count on it," Wufei muttered. "He still attacks us at random even though we have all shot at him, and we didn't miss."

"I have a very high pain tolerance thanks to the Docs, and I heal very quickly," she added trying to sooth the worry from the violet eyes staring at her so mournfully. 'He's like a little puppy dog. So cute.'

"Like Heero then," Quatre stated.

"Possibly, I couldn't really say. Most of my training came from my family, not the Doc. I have only been with him for the last year and a half."

Why was she telling them these things? She didn't trust them, and yet she did. Not that they would ever trust her. Why should they? She wasn't human. Not truly. How she wished she were.

Quatre rose up from his seat. "Heero your tea is getting cool. Would you like some more?"

The cold blue-eyed soldier nodded and moved to take command at the head of the table.

"I would appreciate another cup as well, please, Quatre," Wufei said.

"You will have to retrieve your cup."

Wufei left and she moved to her seat. There were six chairs here already. She idly wondered why. At least it made things easier.

Duo reclaimed his hot chocolate and happily chanting, "Hot coco, hot coco, I love hot coco," he took a seat to the right of Heero.

Heero was currently directing a new death glare at her.

"Yes?"

"What did you do to my laptop?" His voice was a study of arctic ice.

"Oh, so you're the one who hacked into my computer!" The glare intensified. "If you asked very nicely, maybe I'll input the antivirus codes. It has to be done direct, and the codes are all in my head, so death threats and gun pointing just won't work." She added smoothly even as Heero reached for the previously holstered gun. He stopped. She smirked. "Good boy." She tried to ignore the fact, that if he had tried to carry out his threat, Control was high enough that she could've done little to prevent it.

"Solaris, would you like me to fill your cup too?" Quatre questioned from his station over the teapot.

"Yes, please." She decided to pretend the pilot at the head of the table didn't exist. Perhaps not the best idea to provoke the leader of the team on their first proper meeting. Oh well, it was her only current outlet for her frustrations at Control.

"You will fix my computer when we are finished with our tea," Heero commanded.

"Dude, loosen up," Duo chimed. "Just think, now there is someone else to torment you."

If she could've expressed that much aggression, she would have smacked Duo to the other end of the ship. She was going to have to have a talk with Control about this. It was far too dangerous for them all if she fell under raised control every time she dared hit one of them. The only way to lower the percentage fast enough after Control had dumped the passive chemicals into her system was to send her straight into Zilch mode. Not that great of an idea either. She had a hard time discerning friend from foe in Zilch mode.

Heero broke his stony silence to fill her in on their mission details. "We are returning to Earth. The first mission is a supply run. We are to get what we need and destroy the rest."

Therefore, over their tea, and Duo's beloved coco, they discussed the mission parameters and later she removed the virus from Heero's laptop.

Tbc or maybe NOT!!! MMWAAHAHAHAHAHA Seems like a good place to leave off to me don't you think! EVIL LAUGHTER SWELLS THROUGH THE ROOM.

MUST RECEIVE REVIEWS. AM STARVING HERE!!!!

Okay just kidding… I fully intended to write more. BUT NOT FOR THREE YEARS!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!

Enough already! Goes away for a moment. Okay there we go. Evil caffeinated someone is locked away securely.

Reviews are greatly loved.

Going to jump to the mission next time. Chihuahua! Chapter is a bit weak I think. It will get better! (I hope)

Zilch mode is when Control is at 0 incase no one caught that, I just came up with it. I couldn't exactly call it Zero mode.

Yes, the Chihuahua is totally random. The song came on right there.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Same as all the other pages.

Warnings: Nothin new.

Well here goes….

SRTSRTSRT

Stretching carefully she tested her wounded muscles' limit. Control could do this job well at least. Her wounds were stiff but nearly healed, despite the fact it had been less than a week. By the time they left for the supply raid, which was soon, she would be limbered up enough not to have to go about cramping or some such thing during the mission.

She was just folding down into a meditative pose when Wufei's head poked around the doorframe. His very tone laced with scorn he said, "Onna it is time to leave."

She suppressed a snarl. He didn't even have to speak the words again for her to know what he was thinking. weak onnas shouldn't fight.

With a fluid flex of muscles, she rose in one smooth motion. "Very well, I am coming."

"At least I don't have to work with a weak onna tonight. The baka is stuck with you," Wufei said and left.

'Bastard. Duo isn't an idiot. You only have to watch him at work to know that, and I may not like what I am, but weak is not part of my genetic makeup. If you don't back off you are going to learn that the hard way.' Voicing nothing but a sigh, she moved to follow.

Earlier that afternoon she had watched Duo assemble several explosives for the night's work with complete ease and assurance. She knew just enough to make the most basic bombs and use them. That subject had been a mere three weeks out of her fourteen and a half years of training. The last year with Doctor K was mostly learning to deal with Control and pilot Nightshade. They hadn't had time for anything else. She had learned some over the last few months of the war, but nothing compared to Duo's expertise on the subject.

Tonight she and Duo would plant the bombs throughout the base while Quatre and Wufei set a diversionary bomb in the barracks then hacked the database. In the meantime, Heero and Trowa would be loading a couple of trucks with supplies.

She might not be so good at making explosives, but she could set one, and her stealth was probably only matched by Duo's. Stealth was, after all, exactly what she had been trained for. She blended into whatever crowd she wished and sneaked into any place set before her. Control did have to slip into her system and take over if she was in crowds for too long, but she was good at what she did.

Climbing into the Jeep, she picked a seat beside Trowa who nodded a greeting. As they rolled out, she unobtrusively slipped her specialized headphones into place. They fitted into place coiling around her ears. They allowed her to hear at her normal level, which during missions when she was below 40 could be extremely acute, but toned down any high decibel sounds such as gunshots or explosions. If it was not muted, her eardrums could be easily shattered. The one real drawback of her hearing, loud noise was a definite problem at times. Her eardrum had ruptured once. It had taken several surgeries to repair the damage. Doctor K had formulated the headphones to save her from that again.

The trip proved quiet. Duo called shotgun and played with the radio, tuning randomly into favored songs. He sang happily with the ones he knew. Quatre joined in most of the time. What knocked her socks off was when the two-silent as tombs-boys known as Heero and Trowa added their voices to the chorus on occasion. Wufei looked out the window apparently ignoring the lot of them, but she was sure she could hear him humming along too.

'So he's not a complete stick in the mud.' Smiling she joined in where she could.

TBC

Okay I know that was kinda short and pointless. I have more I was going to put in this Ch but ran out of time. I'll just write it in as another ch.

Reviews PLEASE!!! -- Or I'll just let my beta read the story and won't post it. MUWAHAHAHA

HEE!!!


	10. Chapter 10

Okay first. Why do we write disclaimers on every page of the fanfic I mean the first one says it all, right? That said I don't own GW but Solaris is all mine, and Nightshade.

This will hopefully be longer than the last.

Back to it

SRTSRTSRT

Leaving the jeep hidden in the forest a mile or so away from the base, they trekked at a lope through the brush.

The barrier fence hummed with electricity. Quatre clipped a device to it and another a few feet over diverting the current and giving them a narrow strip to climb up. Here they split into their two-person teams. She and Duo melted into shadow and began the task of planting explosives throughout the base. The second set of bombs was set by the time the nearly empty barracks exploded. It should take most of the base officers to put out the fire leaving only a few to guard the main buildings.

A quarter of the bombs were now in place. Half. Nearly done. The two of them met a couple of officers in the hallways a bullet from their guns brought the soldiers to the floor. She took half of the remaining bombs and they went separate ways. Quatre and Wufei should have joined with Heero and Trowa now.

She pressed the arming button on the last of her explosives. Now to get the others. It was strange knowing that there were others here on her side. She had rarely worked assassinations with one partner much less five. Neither did she normally take out whole bases. Doctor J sent her on infiltration and single assassination missions.

Five soldiers stood between her and her destination. She spun into action clawing two of them and ramming her elbow in to the throat of another. Three down. Bullets punctured the wall where she had been. To bad for them, she was in the air over their heads. The ceilings were nice and high here. She kicked one as she landed and crouching low, swiped the feet out from beneath the other frightened soldier. A prick of her claws and his breath froze in his lungs.

"Find solace in the kiss of night."

The air ducts were more to her taste right now. She removed the heavy grate and slipped into the wide air tunnel. With a moments concentration she sheathed her catlike claws. She really should warn the boys about them. Best that they knew it wasn't wise to grab her hands. Most of the time they were hidden, but they did come out on reflex at times.

Perhaps she should warn them about Zilch mode too. She didn't want to kill them by accident.

Thankfully, the filters were good, so the ducts she crawled were relatively clean. She had sneezed once crawling around in them and gotten shot for it. She hated being shot.

She froze as soldiers' boots thundered below her position. Yelling about the fire, they were gone quickly. Must have been a pretty good explosion if they were still running around like headless chickens. It had been well over an hour already.

It was time to move up a level. She stood up in the rising air duct. Bracing her elbows against the narrow sides, she pulled herself upwards. This was going to hurt later. Now though she could brace her knees in front of her and inch up the wall in a cramped hopping motion.

With relief, she could see the top in sight. She reached up and then she was in a level passage again. Soon she would have to walk the hallways again. She came to a dead-end. She needed to go right, but angry voices drew her left. One sounded familiar. She peered down through the slats to see Duo surrounded by twelve soldiers clearly out gunned.

"You won't take Shinigami alive!" Duo laughed darkly.

If she got shot, Duo was going to get his butt kicked. This had to bee done fast and smooth.

Sliding off the metal brackets across her knuckles she slammed her fist into the vent. It clipped the skull of one soldier and clattered to the floor. Grabbing the far edge, she dropped out behind the startled soldiers.

She pulled a gun. One to the head, that one got it in the throat. Another fell to a poisoned needle. Duo had reclaimed his gun from the floor. She leapt into the air and kicked out striking a soldier in the head. He dropped bonelessly in place. As she came down, she smashed her gun hilt into the cranium of the next one. Duo had shot down four. Three left. Flicking her arm out, she sent two needles into the air. After a few precious seconds the targeted soldiers succumbed and died. Duo shot the last in the chest.

"Shinigami rocks back from hell!" Duo crowed laughing.

"Find solace in the kiss of night," she said softly. Killing brought her no pleasure, but the newest blood on her hands didn't bring her more grief. She had been numbed by the deaths from her hands since she was seven. All she could do was pray that they found solace in whatever afterlife there may be.

She looked to Duo. "Let's go."

"Right, coming sis." Duo grinned.

A chilled entered her blood. "Sis?"

"Yep, buddy doesn't seem to fit a girl and bro really doesn't work, so sis it is for now."

Slowly she nodded. "Okay."

His eyes widened in surprised and she caught a flash of real happiness in his smile. "Really?!" 

"Yes, I don't really mind. You are a better person to call me sis than anyone else.

'Not that my brother ever called me sister anyway. Especially after what he did to me, he will never have the chance either.'

They met no more soldiers on the way to the trucks where the rest of their team waited. The trucks were loaded and ready to go. A few soldiers lay where they had been shot upon disturbing the mission. She climbed into the truck next to Heero and Wufei.

"We are all in. Move out," Heero said over the radio.

"Roger that," Trowa said. The truck rumbled to life and they broke unnoticed through the gates. The small explosion had done its work well.

They stopped a ways out and Duo slid into the driver's seat of the abandoned jeep. He held up a small black cylinder. Heero nodded sharply. A button was pressed and crimson fire blossomed in the sky behind them.

"Mission complete."

TBC

Better??? I tried to write something more interesting. 

What do you all think? I really want to know, and to tell me you have to click on the little purple button.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Same as always.

Okay for those of you who have forgotten. SRTSRT stands for Solaris. HDTQWHDTQW stands for the POV of the boys.

"speech"

'thought'

duo's grunt interpretation

So reminded.

SRTSRTSRT

The annoying red flashing of numbers refused to stop. 'Why do I even bother keeping an alarm clock? It's not as if I ever get up at a different hour every night. Nooo. I have to wake every night at three-o-two am, and then after I manage to fall asleep again I then wake up at five eleven AM. Only rarely do I manage to fall asleep again. I never sleep past six-o-clock when I do.' That was what her lovely training bestowed upon her since birth.

Glowering futiley at the glaring red 6:00 she growled deep in her throat. She had not slept much at all last night, and there was no sleeping in, and they hardly ever had time for cat-naps during the day.

She rolled up and out of bed in one smooth motion. Without turning on a light, she located her pants and a shirt. Leaving her boots behind, she padded barefoot through silent corridors. It would be nice to train for a while. They were currently based out of one of Quatre's Mansions. After the raid on the base they had transferred the Gundams here where a large underground hanger could hold all six. Far better then the last place, where they had hidden the huge carrier in a deep cove and the Gundams in the nearby forest.

She had spent the last three days doing what repairs she could to Nightshade. The problem was, she didn't know a lot about what she was doing, and had run out of things she knew how to fix. Her Gundam had never been this badly damaged before. The year and a half with Doctor K had been spent getting Control in place and learning to pilot Nightshade. They hadn't had time to go over how to repair Nightshade.

She needed help. 'But who to ask? Not Wufei. Trowa might help, but she wasn't sure he would speak enough to teach how to do it herself. Same with Heero. So, that left Duo or Quatre?'

Taking advantage of the wide, clear passageway, she bent down and flattened her hands on the floor. The muscles in her back stretched and popped. She was now fully healed from her wounds. Putting all weight on her hands, she brought her feet up off the ceramic tiles. Her pinned, but unbraided hair, fell down around her face.

Arching her back, she flexed the opposite direction and stood upright again. A mewl of pleasure from the stretch rose in her throat cut off abruptly by harsh training reflexes. The calm mood she had momentarily found vanished and irritation returned. With her blood cursed by her family since before her birth, the anger was rarely ever far. It was their fault she couldn't sleep more than three hours at a time. It was their fault she had killed her mother, her father, and yes even her hated brother. They had corrupted her blood, and she would never be normal because of it. It was their fault her very touch was corruption.

Filled with fury she stepped into the large training room. It would be best if she could work the anger off before the others awoke and saw the darkness within her soul. Control didn't often let her show the true depth of her fury. Zilch mode was the only time she was free enough to do so, and everyone fell before it.

A folded form in the center of the training mats stilled her stalking. 'Chang.' He was meditating. She should leave him to it. One meditated when one needed to find ones balance. She normally did it after she worked out. Later, then. With a sigh, she turned to leave.

"Taiga?" 

He had heard her. "Forgive me, Chang. I didn't' realize anyone else would be using this room so early."

"I always get up before the others to center myself." He unfolded himself from the floor. "I was nearly done."

"Do you mind if I use the mats then?"

His obsidian eyes were sharp almost painful in their hidden scorn. "I was planning to practice my katas."

She raised an eyebrow refusing to falter beneath his contempt. "May I join you?"

Wufei scowled. "Onnas should not fight. They are weak."

The suppressed fury broke her restraint. Thanks to a discussion with Control, she could battle with her teammates and Control wouldn't interfere any more then necessary. She was extremely tired of Chang's attitude.

"Let's make a deal, Chang." He tensed at her tone. "We fight, hand to hand, here and now. If you win you can go around painting the walls saying how weak I am, but if I win you cannot say any such thing within my presence again."

He started to sneer.

"Please, tell me you are not afraid to fight a girl." she snarled and matched him with her own sneer.

"Fine, I will fight you."

"Please, show me what you call strength." she purred.

They circle then clashed in a flurry of ancient martial katas given to them through their heritage. They fought in complete, eerie sync. Moving as though they knew what the other would do.

"Women are not strong enough to fight."

She kicked high at his head, but before completing the move used her momentum to flip sideways and rolled to her feet neatly avoiding his rapid strikes.

"The strength to fight doesn't come from ones gender. It has absolutely nothing to do with ones physical form. One could be the frailest of old women, and be stronger then a well built young man trained to fight from the day he was born." She dodged a low kick to her stomach and lashed out with a tight fist. "True strength comes from with in your heart and soul. It is the ability to stand up and move forward to protect something or someone no matter the cost to you. The desire to protect is the greatest strength one can bear."

She darted behind Wufei knocking his feet out from under him and twisting his arm up. They fell heavily to the canvas mats. She had a knee in his back and his arm-twisted painfully around. He was beaten.

"True strength is when one fights for something, despite the threat of great pain and a horrid death. To protect it is the strongest of desires. Nothing can overcome it."

She stood over him and turned to walk away.

"What…what is it that you protect, so fiercely?" Wufei panted, face raised from its impression in the mat.

She spread her fingers over her flat, hard stomach. "The future."

TBC

OOOH! I like this chapter! I had a lot of fun with this one.

Must give my beta a round of applause! He has been extremely helpful!

What do you guys and girls think????


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: same as always and forever.

Sorry for the wait life's been really busy, and I'm not sure if I can type all this out very quickly I dumped coffee on my left hand this morning and it hurts. It's not a major burn but it'll take a day or to heal up probably. I'm just glad it wasn't my right hand. Now that would have been bad.

HDTQWHDTQW

After his defeat, Wufei climbed up from the floor, and went to make the first pot of tea for the day as usual.

'Was she right?' He didn't know. He had lost and she had proven her strength, but did that make him weak? Not if Solaris was right.

With a confused moan, he slumped at the table a freshly brewed cup of tea clasped in hand. Another filled cup steamed at her place.

'Nataku, am I weak? Am I worthy to pilot in your place?'

"There is no shame in losing."

Wufei started, tea waving dangerously close to the rim.

Solaris curled into the chair across from him. Wet hair knotted in place but unbraided it hung to her waist. "Losing a battle doesn't make you weak. It just means the winner was stronger or luckier." She picked up the tea he had unconsciously poured for her and inhaled the steam appreciatively.

"I lost to an onna," he said sourly.

An eyebrow rose. He wondered how he had become teammates with the two people who could do that. However, Trowa could be raising both of them under his hair. Who knew?

"If it really bothers you so much then become stronger."

He hated feeling so lost. "How?"

Her voice was gentle, "Find that one thing worth protecting."

The conversation had taken long enough for their tea to be sipped gone. He was rising to pour more when he saw Solaris glanced towards the door and away again. A long moment later Trowa stumbled blearily into the kitchen. He only got up because he always seemed to live a life where rising early was expected. First the mercenaries and then the circus. Now he couldn't break the habit.

Quite familiar with this routine Wufei guided the graceful acrobat to a chair and wrapped his hands around a large mug of bitter coffee. Solaris's eyes held a glimmer of amusement at the state of their resident night owl. Unless under dire threat Trowa refused to function before two in the afternoon without at least two cups of coffee if not five or six. It was seven-thirty now. Duo should be next. The kid loved to sleep, but he was the opposite of Trowa. He loved mornings. Wufei knew Duo actually got up at about the same time he did he just didn't put in an appearance till after Trowa was up.

'Right on cue.' Wufei sat down and Solaris picked up her cup as Duo waltzed happily into the room. Wufei pointed to the black mug on the cream tiled counter.

"Thanks, Wuman! Morin' zombie dude." Duo plopped into his chair beside Wufei. "Solaris, you're up early this morning!"

Trowa didn't even acknowledge the chipper baka. Wufei just gritted his teeth and ignored the slight.

"I'm always up this early," Solaris said.

"Really? Maybe we should gang up on Wufei then. Of course if we did then I wouldn't have time to take a shower before breakfast." Duo had his headphones pulled down around his neck and they could all hear the steady beats of hard rock pouring out.

"You mean it takes you an hour and a half to take a shower?" Wufei asked in disbelief.

"Maybe," Duo drawled, "it is hard to take care of this much hair ya know."

Wufei snorted in disgust.

"He's right you know. It takes a lot of work," Solaris stuck up for Duo. "Long hair is hard to keep neat. Why do you think we keep it braided?"

"If it's so much work you should just cut it off."

Trowa still in his zombie state didn't join in, he just got up to get a new cup of coffee.

"No!"

Wufei winced at the simultaneous shout, "Fine then. When you get caught by your long hair don't come crying to me."

"We won't," Duo snapped, "besides I can carry a lot of stuff in my hair."

"I have needles and lock picks in mine. If anyone tries to grab my hair, they are going to get their hand sliced open. When I'm on a mission, I braid in a razor wire. It has saved me before." Solaris bared her teeth in a dark smile.

"Doesn't it cut your hair?" Duo asked.

"Some, but if you do it right, not a lot."

Silence fell over the soldiers for a while. Duo was reading a manga and the others lost to their own thoughts. Trowa's second cup was nearly empty. Quatre should be making an appearance soon. Then Trowa would start breakfast, as it was his turn. The routine followed a similar schedule every morning varying only by who cooked. The breakfast duties rotated between Trowa, Quatre, and himself. Nobody wanted to eat Duo's cooking and Heero never got up until the food was started so if he were on breakfast duty they would never eat.

Trowa was leaning into the fridge when Quatre walked happily into the room. "Good morning everyone."

Plates were sliding onto the table before they heard the grumpy footsteps of their leader. Antagonist and cold at the best of times even Duo left Heero well enough alone until he had eaten.

Quatre put down the paper they had gotten in town yesterday and took Duo's manga from him.

"Hey! I was reading that!"

"That hardly qualifies as reading material, baka." Wufei smirked into his teacup.

Quatre tapped the book on Duo's head. "Be polite and eat with us."

"Fine." Duo picked up his fork, piled the bacon and eggs onto his toast, and squirted a good amount of ketchup over the worked. Proceeding then to inhale it. Heero and Trowa ate their food in a precise, steady rhythm. Heero wielding chopsticks like Solaris and Wufei, and Trowa a fork.

Not pausing in his suction of food Duo eyed the others. Wufei sat up straight and ate quickly though not with the trained precision of Heero. Quatre ate neatly without being dainty. As always. He was good at judging people's moods by how they ate. This was why he figured Solaris was depressed or something. She was just picking at her food. From what he had seen, she normally ate as a cross between Wufei and Quatre.

"Don't like the food?" he asked hoping for more insight.

"Hmm. Oh, it is fine."

He watched her for a few more minutes stuffing in the last of his self-made sandwich.

"You gonna eat all that?"

"Maybe not. I'm not really hungry."

"Can I have it then?" The only reply was the scrapping of the plate across the table. "Cool, more food!"

By now, they were all eyeing her carefully. Having only known her a short time they didn't know her well, but something was bothering their female team member this morning.

"What is bothering you, Solaris?" Quatre asked pointedly.

A wry smile twisted her lips. "That obvious huh? Fine, there are some things about me you should know and I've never really told anyone before."

A subtle tension sprang up around the table. Seemingly oblivious she continued.

"First, for your own safety don't ever grab my hand unless it is offered to you. I tend to scratch upon reflex and my claws are almost always tipped in poison." She paused to let them absorb the new information.

"Claws?" Duo asked blankly.

She extended her hands across the table, and as they watched, metal, cat like claws unsheathed themselves from beneath her fingernails.

"Whoa," Duo breathed.

"You used those on Wufei when we first fought, correct?" Heero questioned.

"Yes. There was actually a mix of poisons on them, but the only potent one was the nightshade."

"How did you get them?"

Solaris glanced at Quatre and withdrew her hands ducking her head. "They were spliced into my muscular system when I was three."

Quatre gasped, "But that's horrid. Inhuman!"

She laughed, a cold bitter chuckle. "My family is all trained assassins. There is nothing human about them. On to the next warning. I would guess that at least one of you has seen the metal imbedded into my neck." Nods answered her around the table. "Right, that is an AI integrated into my nervous system. It controls the chemical flow in my bloodstream and the signals from my brain. Basically, it keeps me sane and stable. I will fight or not as the situation demands. Without Control, I could do anything from going berserk in a nursery room or completely passive in a firefight. My family trained me so well they became scared of me, so they decided to break me. And, they did. Doctor K saved me and gave me Control."

"It controls you completely." Heero said flatly.

"Not quite. Most of the time I am on a percentage level of 45 in a fight it lowers in situations that require a more passive me, it raises. I also have an override. That is what I wanted to warn you about. When I override Control, I kill everything around me. I cannot really discern friend or enemy. My eyes turn golden when I am in override."

Heero grunted, "Your eyes were gold that time we found you then."

"Right. I was severely weakened at the time or at least one of you would be dead. I don't think I could kill all of you though." Solaris uncurled from her chair. "I have told you what I will on the subject. Do what you will with the information."

Then, she was gone leaving them all to sit there in stunned contemplation.

TBC

Well what do you think??? Tell me please!!!


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Status the same.

I love the reviews I've been getting. I'm glad you all like it. I'll try to keep it coming steady, but work is entering a busy season for me. Thank You!

SRTSRTSRT

Well, she had done it. Tension hitched her breath. They knew some of her darkest secrets. She was not natural. As her family had told her time and time again. A.I. in her brain and claws in her fingers. Now they knew and it was up to them whether they would still fight with her.

A bitter laugh rasped her throat. She hadn't noticed any looks of disgust, but then they didn't know the worst of it all. Not that she planned to ever tell them. It brought no danger to them. Just her.

Nightshade needed to be finished. Whether or not they chose to keep her with the team there was a war and she still had to fight. Even if she was alone. 'Like always.'

A sad smile softened her face as she gathered tools to work. Given time, she might have become friends with these five boys who fought with all their strength. It would have been a true friendship. They knew most of her corruptions. She didn't have to hide everything. They wouldn't freak if she threw against the wall or held a gun to their head before she realized who they were. The boys were soldiers too. They knew what it was like. However, she would likely have to leave soon. 'Alone. Always alone.'

High on Nightshade's cold shoulder she rested her head on her knees, tools abandoned on the walkway.

"Hey, sis!" Duo yelled.

"Duo?"

"Yep. How're repairs goin'? He leaped the railing and plopped beside her.

She shrugged.

"You are still calling me sis?" She hated the pleading note in her voice.

"Why not? You are still the same person as before, we just know more."

"Thank you."

"Sure. It's not like we don't all have our own quirks. I have an almost split personality, Heero's certified insane, Quat's got that weird space heart thingy, Trowa has no fear whatsoever, and Wuman, well you know Wuman's deal. Your thing is just a little weirder s'all."

She latched onto the safest thing. "You have a split personality?"

"Well, sort of. Shinigami is my safety. He protects me from the pain of all the death. The God of Death carries my will to fight." Duo flopped back, hands laced behind his head. "I don't like death. It hurts to have lost a loved one or know that you just stole someone else's loved one. When I let Shinigami take over I can do what I have to, to bring peace to our people. Later I cry and scream about it, but I do what has to be done. Without Shinigami I would falter."

She curled tighter around her knees. "I wish we were more alike."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't feel pain anymore. When I kill someone, I feel nothing. Nothing at all." The harsh scents of metal and oil permeated the hanger like sludge. "I can't cry anymore. I used to. I would beg and plead for them not to make me. But, after a while, it just stopped hurting. I know that means there is something wrong, and I try to feel something, anything. Anger, hatred, sorrow, even pleasure. There's just nothing there," she whispered this not even sure Duo could even hear her. Her arms ached with the tension.

"It isn't your fault you know," Duo's voice was soft with concern. "It's the fault of those who forced you through all that. For now, you have to do whatever it takes to win this, and protect our future. Afterwards I'll help you find yourself again. And then," Duo's tone turned mischievous, "then we'll show Heero how to feel too, kick Wuman's butt, and teach Trowa how to speak, 'cause I'm not really sure he knows how."

She could not help but laugh, "He's not that bad."

"Yah… what ever, you want help working on your Gundam?"

Startled she look at the team's not so dumb, baka. "Actually, I would love your help. To tell the truth I don't really know how to fix what's left. Not really my area of expertise." She grinned, "But I do have an idea. How about you teach me how to repair Nightshade and I'll teach you how to speak Chinese."

"Really? Cool. I can work with that. It's a deal." Duo stood and offered her his hand. "Let's get to work."

"Roger that."

What was this feeling? She was what… not peaceful, but… happy?

She took Duo's hand and he pulled her up.

Tbc

Okay. I know that was short, but it was the perfect place to stop, and I'm still not exactly sure what comes next. Most of the things I'm planning to do builds relationships between characters. Any ideas, action or otherwise? I have a few specific things I'm going to do, but there's always room for more. So review and let me know what you all think.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: Again, don't own.

Doing a little bit of third person first.

SRTSRTSRT

The five of them did not get any more missions for several days and in that time fell into a comfortable routine. She sparred with Wufei around six every morning after he meditated. She didn't always win. She then did her meditation while he made the first pot of tea. They would hand the various cups to their teammates as they stumbled into the kitchen like clockwork. The only difference each morning was who cooked breakfast. Neither Heero nor Duo cooked in the morning. The first because he refuse to get up before the food was nearing the table, the later because he wasn't allowed anywhere near the actual cooking.

She and Duo would normally work on Nightshade all afternoon while language lessons progressed rapidly through each day. Excluding Duo, straws were drawn for both lunch and dinner. The boys were surprised that she could cook so well, believing it to be outside of her training. Then she told them that it was a combination of a good infiltration tool, and the knowledge of what poisons could blend into a meal. That bit of knowledge had earned her a wide-eyed act of fear when Duo touched the first plate of food, therefore earning him a smack from Wufei, a jab in the ribs from Quatre, and rolling eyes from her.

The evenings were generally spent in the living room each doing their own thing, and she finally dared to bring out her sketchbook. This elicited little notice except Duo attempting to see what she was working on. He backed off after receiving a glare as dark as Heero's and pointedly tapping claws. The peaceful days couldn't last and one after the other they left on missions until only she, Duo, and Quatre were left in the mansion.

A rattle of tools sang out as she pulled a small wrench from the toolbox at her feet. Duo was above her working on a wing joint, for once not singing along with his music. "Hey, Duo, are you feeling okay?"

The answer took a moment in coming and had a lost air to it, "Hmmm? Yah I'm fine."

"No reason really," she laughed. 'Just that you always sing the song that's playing right now, you've hardly said anything all morning, and your smile is wrong today.' She leaned over to tighten several bolts in the shoulder. Well, they all had their scars, for now she would leave him alone.

A monkey wrench clanged at her feet having narrowly missed her shoulder. 'Okay that's it. I am tired of dodging tools.'

"Duo!"

"Eep, sorry, sis."

"That's the third tool in half an hour to threaten my personal space." She handed up the wrench, but didn't let go of her end, forcing him to stay there. "What is wrong? Don't you dare give me that smile and say nothing. You call me sis, yet you won't tell me what's wrong," she softened her tone, "Please, Duo?"

Abruptly his mask dropped and he climbed down to the walkway, slumping against Nightshade. She settled close to him their shoulders brushing. It was a bit close for her comfort, but she sensed that he needed the contact.

He fiddled with the brown tips of his braid. "It's the date."

"What happened?"

The beating of rock music filled the silence until he spoke. "This date marks one of the darkest days of my death-filled existence. I never really told anyone before. Have you ever heard of the Maxwell church massacre on L2?"

"I saw a little bit on the news, but I had some things to deal with at the time, and didn't pay a lot of attention."

He nodded, "I used to live there. It was awful. Not the church, it was nice there, at least until the soldiers came. I told them if they just waited, I could get them what they wanted. I was just a kid, but I had been a thief all my life. I had even been on the base before on a dare," his breath hitched. "Death follows me, it takes all those I love, and it struck again at the church. It took all of the other orphans and Father Maxwell, and Sister Helen. Did you know? She's the first one who braided my hair. It took six hours. The Father gave me his bloodstained cross and a blessing with his last breaths. It was my fault that they all died. I knew death followed me, but I was weak and I stayed. Now I am doing it again. I can't leave all of you. I'm going to bring Death upon you too." He buried his face into his knees.

She listened quietly until he finished. His life had been as painful as her own had but he had at least, found a few bright spots. She almost envied him regarding those times, but then she remembered her two salvations, and decided that she would endure it all over again just to bask under the light of those two bright lights in her life.

"Death is pure. I believe there is peace after death. Those who have died no longer have to suffer the darkness of this war. I will not say that Death doesn't follow you, but I will say that corruption is far, far worse. At least the ones who held you close loved you. Corruption turns a person's soul black and they turn so very ugly. It is a poison. If you are the God of Death and Shadow, then I am the Avatar of Poison and Corruption. Poison brings agony, and Death, peace. If you bring it upon us, then we will no longer have to fight and we can sleep without dark dreams, but I believe we are strong enough to withstand your curse. I only pray that you can withstand mine," she said all of this not sure that it would offer any comfort, but it was all she had. Comfort was not something she had been shown before.

"I hope you are right. I hope they are all at peace now," his husky voice came muffled by his jeans. "What was your family like? Obviously they had their problems, but were they really all that bad?" 

A bitter smile went unseen by Duo. "Oh yes, yes, they were. I hate them with every drop of tainted blood in my veins. If I ever see any of them after this war they will die. But, well, I never knew my mother, and Father died when I was three." She declined to mention that she killed him on her first time with poisoned claws, and she had killed her mother with her birth. "The rest of them are all corrupted beyond redemption."

"I'm sorry."

"It's all right, they gave two precious gifts and for that I thank them with the whole of my heart."

She could feel the desire to ask what they had given her vibrating off Duo, but just then, they were interrupted.

"Dou! You have a mission!" Quatre yelled from the doorway.

Tbc

Okay, finally another one done. I'm really sorry it took me this long. I'm not quite done with the touchy feely things yet, but things will get busier soon.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: Why do we post these on every page?

Thanks to all for reading so far. I promise there is action coming. I have it planned out I just have to have the time to write. It's a very busy season for me so I am sorry to say update may be slower than both you and I would like, and that said I shall type the story now!

HDTQWHDTQW (just Q & D cause everyone else is gone at the moment.)

Duo pulled on his jester's mask. He was sure that Quatre could probably sense his pain at times, but he didn't need to see it to. He was immensely glad for Solaris's supportive shoulder though. It had helped to talk, and perversely, it helped to know that he was not the only one in pain. He had a feeling her pain went deep. He wanted to pry it out of her, but duty called.

Clanging his way down the metal steps to the hanger floor, Duo put aside dark memories and mentally prepared for his new mission. "Hey, Quat, do I have time to eat before I go?"

"Yes, if you pack while the food cooks."

"Sweet!"

The three of them walked through the florescent-lighted tunnels leading into the mansion. Quatre disappeared into the kitchen. Duo stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Duo, be careful. Remember we will all be waiting for you to come home. None of us has to be alone anymore," Solaris, said softly, her currently amber eyes liquid with empathy.

He nodded dumbly, and bolted for the stairs. There was no way he wanted her to see the tears threatening to fall. It would be nice not to have to be alone. He didn't want to lose anyone else that he loved. His new brothers and single sister were all the family he had.

Quatre sighed in relief as the knot in his shoulder relaxed for the first time that day, the pain that had echoed in his chest eased and he was able to breathe freely. Footsteps whispered over the tiled floor. "Thank you."

"Eeh? What for?" Solaris asked, picking up a chopping knife and the onions.

"For whatever you did for him. It helped. He isn't in as much pain now," Quatre explained.

"Ah, he just needed someone to listen and remind him that he isn't completely alone. He has had a tragic life, and today holds a bad memory for him."

The heavenly smell of browning hamburger and garlic wafted through the kitchen soon enhanced with onions sizzling in the pan.

Quatre diced the zucchinis. "I think his life has been a lot harder than mine. I have only lost two of my family in recent years. He's lost a lot more than that, yet he is still so strong." He glanced at the ebony-haired girl. He sensed she hid a tragic past as well. She shielded well, but he could still catch a shadow around her. "If I may ask, have you lost anyone?"

She handed him the chopped, cream-colored mushrooms with a wry grin. "No, I haven't lost any that I consider precious, few that they are."

He smiled, "I am glad."

By the time, the sauce simmered and the noodles were drained, Duo sat happily at the table, hair damp and a black duffle bag by the door. "Is that spaghetti? Please tell me that's spaghetti!"

Quatre laughed, "Yes, Duo." Ever since Trowa had first made spaghetti, Duo had been completely hooked. He probably wouldn't eat anything good during the mission. He couldn't cook and his mission was far from any restaurant. This being the reason Quatre was sending him off with a decent meal in his bottomless stomach.

TBC

Okay that was completely just filler stuff, but I swear I'm leading into something here. (No puns intended) Who doesn't like spaghetti anyway??? Hmm? Anyone? Didn't think so.


	16. Chapter 16

Okay I think all Disclaimers on previous pages give the idea, so I no longer feel the need to state the obvious.

Many, Many thanks to my beta Yaris01, and the faithful reviewers: Bloodfire87, Aldwyntor, and Of-Light-and-Shadow. Thanks to all others who read this far.

Action coming soon I swear!

HDTQWHDTQW (All Q)

Quatre carried two cups of tea into the living room where Solaris was bent contentedly over a sketchpad. Music beat softly from the large speaker system.

"Hey," he said, setting the cup on the window ledge beside her.

A mumbled response was all he got as dark lines of ink flowed over the lighter pencil etches. He could just see serpentine coils forming beneath her touch. With a sigh, he settled into a plump love seat opening his book at the bookmarker. Now that Duo was gone the house would likely be quiet. Solaris seemed to be happy with the silence. Not that he didn't appreciate it or anything, but it would be nice for a little conversation.

At least he could finish his book now. So, he thought for some time, until Solaris began muttering under her breath and irritatingly tapping a calligraphy brush against her cup. Loose sheets of paper baring several scribbles in different languages scattered across the floor like discarded flowers.

He took it as long as he could. Quatre shut his book with a muffled snap. It was the best he could do with a paper back. "Is there anything I can help you with, Solaris?" He found perverse pleasure from her twitch at his interruption. That twitch was the epitome of a girly screech from her.

"Sorry, I'll try to keep quiet," she said.

And, she was quiet except for the furious swish of her brush, the problem was, it was too quiet. When she wanted to be silent, she was. It was somewhat creepy, and he wanted to know what she was working on. From the few scattered pages, he could see enough to read, it looked like poetry.

It was no use. He had to know. He laid his book on the side table and crept over to look over her shoulder cautiously. He went carefully because when Duo had tried the same thing he had received an elbow to the solar plexus.

"May I see?" he asked.

She didn't answer directly, but shifted over so the pages on her lap were revealed. "I do a poem for every sketch. It tells the feeling or story the sketch is to portray."

He read the pages written in languages he knew. "These are very good."

"Yes, but they don't fit."

Quatre hid a smirk. She sounded like Duo when he was hungry. "Well, what if you put these three together? They seem to fit the feeling I get from it."

Solaris read over the selected poems. Suddenly she picked up her brush, dipped it in ink, and began write kanji directly down the edge of the sketch. He couldn't read what she was writing, but she muttered the words as they formed.

Silver flames embrace the night's guardian.

Shining gems enhance his light's glow

Beware shadowed darkness

Beware the dragon's breath

Dark shadow's death…

He watched with rapt attention as the black kanji framed the coiled dragon, and the glowing sword it encircled. Silver flames danced a ring of protection about the dragon.

Silver flames encompass…

A final flourish and she finished, drying her brush on a paper towel. She gave him a serene smile. "Thank you, I was having a bit of trouble. You gave me the pieces I needed."

"My pleasure. You are very good."

"Not really. I haven't had any training," she demurred.

"That just makes you all the more talented, to be able to pull something off like that with no training. Could I see more of your work?"

"Umm, yah, I guess." She left the room returning with a side latched tube and several small sketchpads. Together they spread the pages out across the floor, and spent a peaceful evening bent over them.

In the morning, he was greeted with a cup of English tea and sweet, milky rice with peaches. Solaris finished her breakfast quickly and left to work on her Gundam. She said there wasn't all that much left to do. Just some repairs to the left knee joint and her wings, which weren't flexing properly. The Gundam had taken quite a beating in her last battle. Duo had apparently made a few special upgrades, and planned to do more when he had a chance. Quatre was surprised at how the two seemed to get a long. Of course, she tended to help him with whatever pranks he deemed necessary for the week, and was teaching him Chinese. Wufei hadn't noticed this yet. The two seemed to be purposely hiding it from him, planning to shock him with Duo's knowledge one of these days most likely.

It was early afternoon when his and Solaris's laptops chimed symultaniously. Quatre checked his, and knew what hers would say as well. They had a supply train to take out.

TBC

See I told you I was leading into some action. Next chapter!

Reviews are always greeted with enthusiasm!


	17. Chapter 17

Sorry it took so long to update. Holidays and all. Anyway, Enjoy!

HDTQWHDTQW (Q)

Solaris took the orders with stoic coolness. Her eyes lightened, and a predatory grace moved with her. Tools were stowed and hatches snapped shut within ten minutes. They had their duffels, and had powered up the engines by another fifteen.

"Is your Gundam ready for battle?" Quatre asked, quietly over their coms.

"It will function slower than normal capacity and the left knee and wing joints have yet to be finished. It should not make a great difference."

Quatre was surprised at the difference in her voice from the soft tones of last night. Now her words carried a growl. Like that of a hunting cat. He suppressed the shiver it sent through his stomach. She was on their side.

He shifted the gears, and his truck rumbled out the hanger doors. He would go overland while she took to the air. Nightshade's spread wings covered the road in a great shadow before the cloaking spread out over the metal surface and she seemed to shimmer out of existence.

SRTSRTSRT

The train wove a black strand through the tapestry of forest green. Mobile dolls flew a protective escort over the mountain valley. It was a prime spot for ambush. She was sure that the Oz faction was well aware of that fact. Hence, the possible overkill on the dolls. Too bad for them, it would not be enough. It wouldn't be easy, but then what was in her life? Well, she supposed that shoving a kunai into her brother's throat had been rather easy. Fear and conditioning was all that had been stopping her in the first place, and then she had been given a reason to overcome that.

A light blipped on the console. Quatre was in place. 'Right then.' Control dropped its hold to thirty-five percent. She signaled acknowledgment, and he began his attack, scimitar flashing in the sunlight. The dolls fell beneath his strength. She probably wasn't even really needed. Nevertheless, she pressed the innocuous button on the small remote.

Strategic explosions set the mountainside's rocks rolling. Two such explosions set on a cliff overhang brought the whole shelf down on the tracks before the train. The engine, unable to stop, was buried under a few tons of rock. She curled her lip in a sneer as another landside came down across the derailed cars in the middle. Try as they might the dolls had failed to protect the train. They had yet to even recognize her presence.

Well, she wanted to play too. Her main weapon slid out of the sheath fused to her back. It was an oddly designed blade. The blade flared with eerie purple phase energy. It seemed almost braided, but as she keyed proper trigger the blade loosed and each segment separated reaching to the ground and coiling around Gundanium feet. She could use it in either form, but she preferred the bladed chain to a solid sword.

With a practiced flick, the chain lashed out and scored the cars still on the track, leaved molten metal behind. The dolls suddenly split up, half of Quatre's attackers flying across the valley ravine towards her. The rest on the trains, cargo and soldier, could wait. Not like they posed much of a threat.

A thrust of her hilt smashed the pointed end into the leading Mobile doll. She was then quickly surrounded by the machines. It was going to be a nasty one after all. She would not fail. The future would be protected.

Her now amber shaded eyes reflected back at her in the cool polished metal of her cockpit. A doll darted forward to be met with the claws of her right hand. Flaring her wings as best as the damaged appendages would allow, she lifted over the sudden barrage of energy beams fired at her. The move effectively cut out a quarter of her opposition.

A circular slash as she landed caused several more to fall. One tried to dodge. She wrapped the chain around its throat and the phase energy melted through the neck, decapitating the doll. Another arching slash caused five dolls to explode, taking out most of the surrounding machines. The resulting shriek of tortured metal would have surely shattered her sensitive eardrums past all healing had she forgotten her silencers.

Quatre finished off his horde of Mobile dolls first and lent her a couple of blades. Together they wiped out the last of the dolls. A red light was flashing silent warning. She had pushed the left knee a bit hard. No matter. They were almost finished anyway.

TBC

AHMM. Yes I know it was kinda short. I have a good bit more to go, but thought it might be an okay place to end it cause I'm getting tired of typing at the moment. I'll update as soon as I can.


	18. Chapter 18

Sigh. Okay, sorry for the delay. I seem to be a bit bad at that currently. Especially since, I have no decent excuse this time. I will do my best to update faster.

As it's been said many times over. I don't own GW

SRTSRTSRT

The last of the Mobil dolls fell to a nasty jab from Quatre's scimitars. That left only the destruction of the train, and any soldiers who had been dumb enough to stick around the area. They were by now a few miles away from the ambushed train. The dolls had managed to push her aways in the end. Not that it really made that big of a difference in the end. For the Gundams a few miles really wasn't all that far.

To keep the stress off the left leg on Nightshade she took to the air. Upon their approach, the vidscreen showed the soldiers scurrying like ants around a car thrown apart from the train. Several were setting up a pitiful defense line while the others appeared to be prying at the buckled, metal doors. Why hadn't they just run? They only brought death upon themselves. She and Quatre were not under orders to kill all personnel, just destroy the cargo. A group broke off from the defense line, running for another part of the fallen train.

As she neared the perimeter, the soldiers succeeded in opening the car doors. An Oz soldier slipped inside. Whatever he was up to probably was not good. The defense line fired. Antiair missiles filled the air. She snarled angrily as one clipped a wing throwing off her balance thrusters. Nightshade thudded onto the ground with a graceless shriek of pained metal leaving scars and broken trees on the mountainside.

"Solaris!" Quatre called worriedly over the comm...

"I'm alright," she replied, not mentioning that she'd be covered in bruises from her harness. That was one set of injuries they were all intimately familiar with. "I am no longer able to fly. They took out a thruster." She snarled, and lashed out with her sword sending said offenders to a burning death.

Quatre's guns thundered, piercing many of the remaining train cars through with jagged holes. Leos erupted from cars the Ozies had vanished into. One crashed into her back throwing her dark blue gundam painfully to its knees.

"Kisama! Omae O korosu!"

She lashed out taking only one suit down, the others dashed out of reach. Why she had not been equipped with guns, she didn't know, but if she ever saw Doc. K, she was going to kill for the negligence. If he was going to purposely steal ideas from all the other Gundam plans including the hidden Tallgeese and Heero's hated Epyon then he could have at least given her one set of turrets. Even her favored claws weren't truly original to Nightshade as Shenlong had a wicked set of claws.

Quatre maneuvered Sandrock to offer support, so Nightshade could gain its feet. The left knee joint was defiantly shaky after that. Soon there were two Leos left. Quatre had just taken one out when a dark shape immerged from the remains of the train car that the Ozies pried open. A beam cannon glowed with malevolent heat. The figure behind it looked like one of the ancient black knights of the medieval era. It was armed with the cannon and an enormous lance. It fired at them.

She shoved Sandrock and slammed her thrusters up flaring her wings in a vain attempt to stay stable. It was a very short hop into the air. It was the best she could do. It was enough. The beam sped beneath her past Quatre's Sandrock, and swallowed the final Leo with scorching death before melting into the rock face beyond. 

Stumbling upon landing, she fought to remain upright. Wings, spread as wide as the damages would allow, created a balance. As the new machine was currently out of her range, she turned her attention to the train wreckage while Sandrock moved to fight. If there were more of those things, she wanted to destroy them entirely before there was any chance of activation. Even though the new threat was not directed at her currently, Control eased off to twenty percent. Now her abiltly to register friend or foe was slight, but her reaction times were hair-trigger.

Whatever else the train may have carried went up in flame under her onslaught. The melted slag would likely fuse to the valley floor and leave a great, metallic snake for centuries. After the whole of the train was decimated, she turned to aid Quatre who was having trouble with the new suit. It was fast. Faster than even Duo's she believed. However, she was hard put to say for sure, as she was only going by the data on Deathscythe.

Quatre dodged a shot from the cannon it struck high on the mountainside. Rocks started to fall. First, one rock then many carrying boulders with them. It was an avalanche, and she was directly in the path.

"Kisama!"

She punched her boosters too late. She just cleared the beginning wave of earth when the peak struck her full on pulling her in. Nightshade collapsed under the avalanche sliding down the slope. Finally coming to a stop, she discovered that she was half-buried and there was no way to get the Gundam out without help. She could not use her sword as it was well out of reach. Scanning over her board, she snarled at the red light flashing. The left knee was done. It now required major repair, same with her wings. Numerous other lights told painful tails.

TBC!!!!

Okay, okay… I'm slow I know!!! Grovels So very, very sorry!!! Don't forsake me!!!


	19. Chapter 19

SRTSRTSRT

"Quatre, I'm down, you will not have back-up."

"Status?"

"Uninjured. Nightshade is pinned," she answered.

"Roger that."

She sat back into her seat with a disgruntled sigh. This was just pitiful. At least Chang wasn't here. He'd be sneering right about now. The black suit fought with a well-oiled ease that told a nasty tale of untapped power. Quatre was holding his own and more though. She watched as the oz creation made mistake after mistake that even the mobile dolls didn't do. 04 wasted no time in exploiting the openings.

Movement at the edge of her screen had her straightening abruptly. It was an Oz soldier. He shouldn't have survived the destruction. But, he had. She keyed the hatch open and dropped out as it hissed aside. A slim needle found its way into her fingers as she moved after the unsuspecting soldier. The sprinting man seemed quite intent on fleeing the scene. Well, they really couldn't have that. Even from this distance she could see the ranking stripes across his shoulder. Perhaps he would offer them information on the black machine. If fact she was sure he would, particularly if she had Heero stare at him for a while. That would break him for sure. The trampled trees and shattered boulders provided excellent cover and slowed him down.

Behind her, oblivious of her hunt, Quatre and the suit battled ferociously on the far side of the valley. She crept steadily up on the man who had paused for a breather. Honestly, this was a ranking Oz soldier? He didn't appear injured, yet barely a mile and a half from the train he stopped for a rest. She would have run at least six or seven. Heero and Trowa probably would have done ten or eleven. While Quatre and Wufei were excellent fighters they were not runners. She guessed they could have done at least five. She sneered down at the weak soldier. Duo on the other hand would have shot past the lot of them and hit thirteen, still going steady. From her very brief stint on the streets as training she had learned that running was a very important part of one's skill set.

The Ozie straightened just as she came into throwing range. The ebon needle was a slight flicker of shadow as it flew forth and sank into his neck. He had time to tentatively feel metal embedded in his flesh before he slumped to the ground. She leaned over and tugged the barbed needle from his skin. After cleaning it on his uniform she slipped back onto her person. It would have to be re-dipped now. Her little dart had been tipped with a combination of sedative, slow acting poison, and another poison that didn't kill but acted as a muscle relaxant on steroids. Even if he woke up before he was fully secured his muscles would be as much use as well-cooked noodles. If she left him here without the antidote he would die a slow death from the first poison. It was her failsafe.

As she could not move him on her own she turned to watch the battle. Quatre was hailing strikes down on the black suit without cease. This earned the suit a quirked eyebrow from her. It was sturdier than it looked. Even a Gundam would be weakening by now. Abruptly that changed as she watched with snarling horror the fractured mountainside shifting beneath Sandrock. 04's Gundam fell backwards, and a black lance impaled it.

"Quatre," she hissed with worry then growled low in her throat. She should be helping. Control was slipping steadily lower as the growl became audible.

Sandrock rolled sideways twisting the lance out of the machine's grasp and pulled it out of its shoulder. Quatre was a good pilot. He could handle this, and she had promised Duo that they would always be his family. They could beat death in the middle of this war. They would rest on their own sweet time.

Which was not now.

The dark suit retreated rapidly as Quatre struck out and came off the ground in a charge reminiscent to a lion's. She wasn't sure she could pull a move like that off. Maybe with practice. The suit hovered now over the train wreckage. It had gotten suddenly closer. Her eyes narrowed. It wouldn't take much for the battle to go on over their squashed corpses. Honestly she was a good, assassin, descent spy, and pilot, but there really wasn't all that much she could do to a mobile suit on foot.

She searched the soldier's limp body. 'Ah, here it is.' She pulled a hand radio out of a pocket inside his uniform. Fiddling with a dial she landed on an open channel. "06 to 04."

"04 here," Quatre snapped. They fell into the ease of codenames as though they used them every day. Unlike the Gundam's comm the radio channel could be tapped. It was unlikely, but possible.

"On foot with bandaged wildlife."

"Coordinantes?"

"Approximatly at eight o clock to your position. Range about a mile."

"Copy, 04 out."

Quatre had engaged the enemy as they talked, and now his fighting style altered to leave apparent openings for the machine to strike in. Rather like the machine had been doing itself the whole time. But, Quatre dodged neatly backwards avoiding nearly all attacks while drawing the suit away from her. The evil looking suit gave particularly vicious swipes sending Sandrock to the ground once more.

Control fought her to hold her steady. If there had been anything she could do the AI would have lost. The black cannon glowed with gathering heat pointed levelly at the prone Gundam. She shook with rage. Control couldn't dump any sort of sedatives into her system as if Quatre lost, she would have to trigger the Gundam's explosive and escape if at all possible. So much for the simple destroy mission.

Sandrock, instead of rising, kicked the machine's knee joint, the metal snapping under the pressure. The enemy suit tilted drastically sideways towards the ground meeting Quatre's waiting scyth. With a crackle of electricity and a small exposion the suit lay still.

Tbc

Hello. Aren't you glad to see me? Wonder if Quatre's alright? ... BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer. Same as everyone elses.

Many thanks to my faithful reveiwers. You can now thank my Beta Yaris01 for the arrival of this chapter.

SRTSRTSRT

The black suit emitted a crackle of blue electricity and lay still. Never to rise again. She watched with predatory stillness for Sandrock to climb back to its feet, but it too lay unmoving.

"04. Status," she snapped into the radio. No answer greeted her waiting ears. She leapt down the steep, valley slope, springing off the rocks only to land on another much farther down. She performed this successfully a few times and then her luck died. Loose gravel slipped out under her feet and she crashed onto her side. The rocks tore through her shirt and skin as she tumbled the last of the way. After getting shakily to her feet she raced toward the great suits lying deadly still.

Flames licked the blacked earth around the wreckage of fallen Leos and melted train cars. The heat was stifling. If Sandrock's life support had failed under the duress, Quatre would suffocate from the oppression. She twisted to dodge the hungry fires. Her flesh pinked under its harsh caress. She finally reached Sandrock just as her lungs were failing from the smoke. Now she saw what she had missed before. The black lance had impaled Sandrock and snapped off over the hatchway.

The Gundanium was warm, but not scorching, as she climbed to reach the hatch. Now that she could see it properly she hoped she could actually open it. She hit the pressure seal over the keypad and typed in the codes. "Come on," she muttered.

She waited with baited breath which was answered by a hiss of released air, the hatch slid slowly away. A blood-soaked Quatre was clutching his left arm desperately. He raised sea green eyes to meet hers. The Lance protruded into the cockpit just past the pilot's wounded form biting into the seat.

"Quatre, status?" she asked softly.

He opened his mouth, but it took a moment for any words to come. "Shrapnel nicked an artery." Blood pulsed out between his fingers.

"Crap." She tore her shredded shirt and wrapped it as tight as she could above and over his wound carefully working around the jagged metal imbedded in his arm and shoulder. "Is Sandrock functional?"

"Yes," Quatre gasped.

She wiped sweat from his brow, and lifted a dropping eyelid. He had a concussion from the looks of it. "I need to sit beneath you to pilot okay." At his nod she lifted him up out of the seat, and braced him with one arm as she twisted around. Thankfully he was one of the smaller pilots, so he could sit on her and she could still pilot. Not that she was much bigger. She had to get Quatre to a hospital. With effort she coaxed Sandrock to its feet.

"Hang on, Quatre." A wound like his could bleed out really fast. Quatre should have already been dead. The walk back to the truck and the transfer of Quatre into it was exhausting for the both of them. She set Sandrock back a ways into the forest not wanting to take any more time. The Gundams would have to wait until she could return. The ride to the hospital took far, far too long for her nerves. She could deal with a lot of wounds, but there was no way she was equipped to handle an arterial wound. It was still bleeding heavily, very heavily. The blood spread inexorably across the vinyl seats.

The tires left rubber on the pavement outside the ER when she screeched to a halt. Instead of trying to take him in herself she raced inside yelling desperately for help. Nurses rushed to her aid with a stretcher in tow. Dazed she watched as they expertly laid him out. It was possible that OZ would check the hospitals for a wounded pilot, but she had little choices here. She signed all the papers as fast as she could, the Gundams and Quatre weighing heavily on her mind.

Should she wait or get the Gundams under cover. Turmoil twisted her gut. In the end it was the concerned nurses that decided her. Now that Quatre was in the Docter's hands they turned to her more superfluous wounds. She accepted their aid, but refused any drugs. One of the nurses brought her a spare shirt to wear. It had taken an hour, yet Quatre was still in the operating room. She couldn't wait any more. Saying something about having to get out, but that she'd be back, she quickly left. Walking down the street she found the bloodstained truck and drove it back out to the forest.

All was quiet as she powered Sandrock up and used it to pull her own Nightshade out of the rubble. The flames had finally died out. She had Nightshade hidden well away from sight in a mountain gully when she remembered the OZ soldier. He lay where she had left him. The sedative would soon wear off, but the paralyser had a long ways to go. Cradling him in Sandrock's hand she carried him to the truck and loaded Sandrock. The loaded truck might be hard to explain, not to mention the soldier, so she hid the truck before walking into the hospital. The soldier had once again been put under. Though by nothing more than a sedative.

One of the previous nurse's bustled over with a wide smile as she stepped inside. "Ah, you've returned. Well, you're young lover has pulled through admirably, despite his nasty wounds."

Lover?! She didn't quite know where the nurse had come up with that, but she went with it. "May I see him?"

"Of course. Right this way."

Quarte was asleep and pale. Blood IVs had been set up. She shuddered. "He's okay?"

"Oh, yes he'll be just fine. I'll leave you be. Let me know if you need anything okay, dear?"

"Yes, thank you," She whispered hoarsely. As soon as the door clicked shut she snatched up the doctor's clipboard. It had been an artery. Barely nicked, but a dangerous wound nevertheless. Quatre's shoulder would be a mess for a while. Shrapnel from the lance's entrance into the cockpit had nearly shredded it. He also had a concussion as she had thought. She would not have been able to help him alone.

The door opened behind her. "Ah, you must be the young lady who brought him in. You saved his life you know. If you had wrapped that shirt any different or looser he would be dead right now."

She spun around to see an older man in a doctors coat smiling at her. "I did what I could."

"You did well. I understand it was a car accident?" 

"Yes, we were near home when it happened I took Papa's old truck and brought him in."

"Do you have anyone to call?"

She shook her head, "We live alone. It's been hard. It was a deer, it was just there. We were so close to home." she allowed the stress to work up a few tears. "So, close. He swerved and hit a tree."

"He's going to be fine."

"Thank you," she sniffed. "Can I stay here with him tonight?"

"Of course."

She settled into a chair to wait until Quatre was ready to leave.

TBC

Short, but now you all know that Quatre's not dead.


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: Yadda, yadda….

Okay, I have been asked to make it a longer chapter and I will do my best.

I am going to be switching viewpoints a bit in this one.

SRTSRTSRT

Curled into the hospital chair, Solaris watched as the monitors flashed steadily. They had taken the blood bag down, but an IV was still gallowed on a rod. It was strange how much she had come to care for these five boys. It hurt her to see them hurt. She hadn't ever felt pain on another's behalf before and yet within a few weeks they were something she wished to protect.

Slowly she slipped into a doze, waking at any unknown sounds. A nurse came and peeked in around two in the morning. She watched the woman warily through slitted eyes. She did nothing more then a routine check. Solaris allowed her eyes to close once more knowing she would need what snatches of sleep she could get.

An unpleasant buzz zapped across her nerves. Her eyes flew open and she suppressed a snarl. She hadn't reported in. Now Doctor J was demanding one through Control. Doing her best to relax back into the chair she settled in for a much despised few minutes, and began to translate the code played across her nerves.

: 06. Status. Report. :

He was thankfully keeping it to a minimum.

: Mission Complete. New suit attacked. Prisoner taken. 04 severely wounded. Position insecure. Request assistance:

Long minutes passed then: Acknowledged. 05 will be redirected. Full report ASAP:

The communication had been short, but had taken a nasty toll. Hidden beneath a thin blanket her hands twitched uncontrollably with small tremors running throughout her body. Taxed nerves sent mixed messages of pain, heat, and cold unable to register properly. She wouldn't rest again tonight.

QRBQRBQRB

Quatre awoke to an empty hospital room. He remembered just enough to realize that Solaris must have managed to bring him to an ER in time to save his life. Hopefully she was safe. In the time that he had known her, his space heart had linked to her in the same type of bond he had with the other pilots. He could just sense her, but he didn't dare drop his shields far enough to ascertain her status. A hospital was not a pleasant place for an empath. He was contemplating calling a nurse to ask about Solaris when said girl prowled through the door.

"Hey, love, you are finally a wake," she smiled, "how are you feeling?" 

"Fine, thank you," he answered, puzzled at her behavior.

"Oh I'm glad. I was so worried. It was so awful when that deer jumped in front of the car, poor thing. Then you hit the tree, all that blood. I was so scared."

Quatre watched the strange acting girl place two thermoses on the side table with a bakery bag.

"I'm just glad we were so close to home so I could get Daddy's truck and drive you in, love. The doctors said it was close." She leaned over and placed a soft kiss to his cheek. "Brother is going to come and pick us up."

Of course! Solaris was giving him their cover story! He squeezed her hand as she babbled on with her tale completely ignoring the nurse that followed her in.

"We'll go with Brother to the dojo and stay with him till you're all better. Here I brought you some tea. Your car is going to need some serious repairs, but it hasn't quite been totaled. Brother is going to bring mine for us. Our little doggy is sleeping in Daddy's truck at the moment. He didn't get hurt at all. Brother had such horrible allergies to him, but he will take care of him anyway."

So, translation. They were acting as a couple in a car accident. Wufei was coming to take them to a safe house bringing a truck to handle Nightshade. Sandrock was secure, but damaged. He was guessing that the 'little doggy' was a prisoner.

After the nurse left them in peace, Solaris handed him a large blueberry muffin, and proceeded to spread cream cheese over a plain bagel.

"How are you Solaris?"

She gave him a soft smile, "I just have a few cuts and scrapes from being thrown from the car, nothing major."

How had she managed to get injuries that required being thrown from the car? "You are sure you are alright?"

"Yes, love, I'll be fine. The nurses took good care of me."

They ate their breakfast quietly waiting for the arrival of their teammate.

WCWCWC OR CWCWCW

Wufei shivered as he stalked in the sterile lobby. He, like the other pilots, hated these places. They were built for healing, but so much pain echoed here. The orders he had received told him little about Winner and Taiga's condition. He knew that they had a prisoner and Nightshade was still hidden in the forest, and they needed assistance, but that was all.

A nurse beamed at him when he asked for their room number, "she said her brother was coming soon. They are in room 406."

He inclined his head, "Thank you." He wondered shortly if they had chosen the room number. Setting his face into a reflection of calm, he started up the stairs. He approached the room where two members of his family lay with apprehension.

What he found was a sleeping Taiga curled in the single chair and Quatre half-asleep with white bandages wrapping around his arm and torso. Wufei couldn't see anymore then a few bruises on Taiga. He was about six feet away when chocolate eyes opened to slits.

"Brother, I'm so glad to see you!" He quickly had his arms full of a teenage girl, "Cameras." Was hissed into his ear when he didn't immediately embrace her back.

"How are you sister?" he could feel the bandages under her shirt, but she waved off his concern.

"I'm fine; it's my beloved, Quatre who got the worst of it." She was slightly favoring her left leg, and moved stiffly, but he doubted he would have known this but for their morning spars.

"Hey," Quatre greeted.

"Let's get you out of here shall we?" Wufei suggested. Quatre's sea green eyes told him that his brother was all right.

"Please."

With a neat set of careful truths and well-spun lies, the nurses finally allowed them to sign Quatre out.

Wufei had driven a duel wheel pickup. They helped Quatre into the back seat where he slumped into the corner with a pained sigh. Taiga climbed in the front seat. The cameras ran a loop and their faces would be gone within half and hour.

TBC

Well, I'm pretty sure that was longer. I need to write more out now.


	22. Chapter 22

Okay this is deffiantly more of a filler chapter.

WC or CW

Wufei followed Taiga's directions to where she had stashed her truck and the prisoner. The prisoner was awake, and wet with bodily fluids. He attempted to scramble away after being untied, but his muscles were yet noodle-limp under the paralyzer. Solaris pulled out another senbon needle and sank it into his arm.

"That should hold him for awhile longer."

"What was it?" Wufei asked.

"Just a sedative. If I give him more of the paralyzing agent it could kill him before we have a chance to question him."

With a grimace of disgust, Wufei helped the girl heave the man into the backseat of her truck. The man smelled. He was glad he was driving the other truck. There wasn't anything they could do about it until they got to the safe house.

"I have a trailer near these coordinates for Nightshade."

"Can that truck handle the weight?" 

"No choice."

"Right," Taiga sighed and started the engine. "See you there."

Quatre filled him in on the details of their mission over the drive to the forest and Solaris's Gundam. A pit had opened in his stomach by the time he reached the trailer's location. A new machine could very well be the final piece to turn this war completely against them. He wouldn't allow this to happen. He would avenge his people.

While he hitched up the trailer, Taiga vanished into the trees to reclaim her Gundam. About half an hour later, the girl's dark blue gundam made a lumbering appearance. The tarp barely covered the damaged machine. Somehow, they managed and Wufei lead the way down the road.

The safe house proved to be a small cottage far from any semblance of civilization. Having only been here long enough previously to stash Nataku, Wufei hadn't claimed a bed yet. Now Quatre took one and Taiga took the other of the two bedrooms. He scowled at the couch that looked as lumpy as it likely felt.

He gave the prisoner a rough shower so he didn't smell up the whole house. The sullen man was allowed to wash at gunpoint. When Wufei went to snap the manacles to his wrists the soldier, barely able to stand, bit him. With a snarl of pain, Wufei slammed a fist into the man's stomach.

"I suggest you behave yourself. I have no respect for your kind. I will not tolerate your pitiful attempts to fight. If you were truly strong, you would not be here now, a prisoner."

Sneering in disgust, Wufei finished snapping the manacles on and tossed him into the closet. That being the only securable place in the house. He found Taiga digging through the dusty cupboards.

"There isn't much. Someone is going to have to go get supplies. We should have gotten them on the way up," the slim girl said.

Wufei nodded in acknowledgement and put water on to boil for tea. Quatre joined them after a while waving off any concern.

"What is your status, Taiga?" Wufei asked he wanted to know how badly she was injured.

She looked surprised at first. Then smiled wryly, "You would notice any weakness wouldn't you." There was no bitterness in her voice. "I have the normal bruises. Plus lacerations, and a slight sprain in my ankle and wrist. Nothing that won't heal in a couple of days."

"Good."

Dinner consisted of canned unpickled, beets, beans, and spam. Not the best fare but certainly not the worst.

"We'll be down to ration bars tomorrow." At that, there was a unanimous "Blech"

The bars provided adequate nutrition, but the taste left much to be desired. Repairs would be started on the Gundams, and the prisoner interrogated on the morrow.

TBC

Don't kill me!!!!!!!!!!! I know it's really short, but I have other things that need done today. And, not a lot of time. I'll get more done soon!!!!


	23. Chapter 23

Okay first off. Some of you were confused about Wufei's Taiga this and Taiga that. If you may recall way, way, way back in the first few chapters Solaris's full name was told, and now restated as. Solaris Roku Taiga. Hence the SRTSRT at the beginning of her viewpoints in the story. He also tends to call Duo, Maxwell, he will stop this once he loosens up a bit. For the others, if he calls them by their last names it's in a respectful way. Mainly he will call them by their first names.

And I know you were all mad cause of the short chapter, but it's better than having to wait is it not? I seriously had no more time to add more.

Now that I have covered my backside I will start the story once more.

WC or CW

Wufei had been outside meditating for quite a while when the screen door swished outward. He slit his eye to watch Taiga glide out to stand under the slowly brightening sky. She settled into the basic kata form. Silent, she went through a long sequence of warm up katas as though he was just an unseen shadow hidden before dawn's breaking.

He wasn't sure how to take this. Experience told him that she had to know he was there. Her hearing was acute. He wasn't sure how acute, but neither Trowa nor Maxwell could sneak up on the girl. So what was her reason for ignoring him? Did she consider him of no consequence? Or maybe, his logical side spoke up, she's just waiting for you to finish meditating, so you can spar like before.

Making a decision, he waited until the girl finished a sequence, then rose to join her in the center of the shadowed lawn. Taiga flashed a predatory smile as he approached, but said nothing. With bows they began their match.

The girl proved once again that she was truly strong enough to fight in this war, despite her injuries she was giving him a fierce battle. He ducked a high, slashing kick. After their first spar in Quatre's mansion he had approached their matches with all of his skills. With neither holding back, the battles could fall to either of them. Though, sadly, he had to admit to himself that she won more. Her style was more versatile then his own.

Taiga was as strong as his Nataku, yet so different. Meiren had been a strong warrior, but burned fast and bright, like a flare shooting sparks. Taiga burned like an ember. She radiated heat and light, scorching those who touched her, but contained the fire with fierce control.

Wufei caught a fist in his palm with a smack of flesh, and twisted her arm up behind her. A foot hooked around his ankle and pulled. His feet came out from under him and he let go in surprise. His back thudded painfully into the ground knocking out his air with a whoosh. Wufei's shirt was immediately soaked with fresh dew. Rolling with his feet still in between her legs he toppled her to the side. He had a chopping hand to her throat before she could recover from the hard fall.

"I yield."

He nodded sharply and rose out of his attack. Wufei offered her a hand, pulling her up when a gloved hand clasped his. He could just feel a light prick of her claws against his wrist.

"I need to retip my senbon needles."

Taiga left his side and faded into the early morning shadows towards the hidden Gundams. The purple in the sky had nearly disappeared by now. Tea was required as per the morning routine only slightly altered by the absence of three of their brothers.

The water was near a proper steeping point by the time she returned to the house carrying three, slim cases. He knew what two of those cases had to be holding. One would be the antidotes. He also knew the other held rows of slender glass tubes filled with strange liquids. Heero had hacked the second case while waiting for the girl to wake up for the first time.

One case she set against the wall. Seeing his glance, she told him, "Just in case." Wufei suppressed a shiver. He poured the first steaming cup while she keyed open the black, metal cases. The first clicked open to reveal the glass tubes he had seen before. The other held small jars of dried ingredients and a small pestle. He gave the stuff a dark look. The girl smiled. He drew no comfort from it.

"Don't worry! I know what I am doing. Just try not to make tea out of anything here and we'll all be fine. Poisons are what I do."

She accepted a tea cup and curled into a chair. Wufei tossed her a ration bar.

"Please tell me we aren't eating these! Aren't there at least some MREs left?"

"No, the bottomless pit stashed the last of them in Deathscythe ages ago."

She wrinkled her nose. "Brat. That is so cheating. I mean honestly. Those are bad, but these things are twenty times worse. At least the MREs were hot."

"I'll drive to the nearest town after this. It will likely take all day. I am not sure how the Doctors managed to find a house way out here in the boonies."

Taiga was staring at him now.

"What?"

"You just said boonies." Laughter rang through her tone.

"Maxwell must be rubbing off," he said trying to regain his dignity.

"Hmhm, anyway, get some fruit. We need the vitamins in them."

"Right."

SRTSRTSRT

After Wufei took the pickup for the long supply run, Solaris looked at the project she had brought in, and decided she wanted a shower first. Picking one of Quatre's favoured blends of tea she set a pot on to come to a slow boil. It would be ready by the time she was finished. This tea required a long steeping. Quatre would likely be up soon after.

Tbc.

Well. Not much longer than the last, but it's a good stopping point in the story and all I currently have written.


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: ………

Disclaimer: ………. Do I really have to say it?

Okay, I am going to write this chapter in the Oz prisoner's pov. I just couldn't see any other way to tell this part.

OZOZOZ

The manacles weighed heavily on his wrist and ankles. If he breathed too deeply the dust suffocated him. However, he wouldn't be in here for much longer. It was pitiful how the arrogant brats thought they were the only ones who knew how to pick a lock. Granted, they believed him to still be under the influence of the girl's poisons. Thanks to long-ago training in his quest for power, he was not.

Admitting that the obsidian boy had one nasty sucker punch put a hole in his pride, but he would win in the end. As he bided his time, he occasionally caught murmur of the Gundam kids' conversations. He knew the blondie had gone to bed after last night's dinner of which he'd gotten none of and hadn't stirred since. He was likely the weakest of the lot, even beneath the girl considering his wounds and build.

A short while ago he had woken to faint noises starting up in the kitchen. What an ungodly hour to be awoken. At least he assumed it was. With no window, he had to go by estimate. A while later voices came to him through the door.

"I'll go after this. It'll take all day…" he couldn't catch every word, but it sounded like the boy was leaving. He pressed his ear flat again the rough door.

"Don't worry… Poisons are what I do after all." The girl must be showing off her prowess with a dart or something. Later he picked up curses about the state of their food and someone who apparently hogged it all. It grew quiet for some time then the boy took his leave of the girl. Stating he'd return late. Minutes later the shower started in the room at his back. It was creepy how he never actually heard the brats moving from room to room. The brats were pussy foots. Still, now was his chance. He only had to take out the little blondie and the girl.

The already loosened chains fell to the floor. Quickly he picked the lock on the closet and peeked out. Thankfully, the hall was far too narrow for them to brace a chair under the knob. That would have put a serious kink in his plans. If he subdued the three pilots and delivered the Gundams to his superiors, he would finally rise a rung on the ladder of power.

He moved carefully into the kitchen. Two fragile teacups stood sentry on the rickety table where black cases lay with their innards bare to the world. Dubious contents sheltered within the glass jars. He recognized a few of the leaves and seeds. "Poisons are what I do…" Of course! This was the girl's stash. Now if only he could find some use for this discovery. Leaving the cases alone for the time being, he scanned the kitchen hoping for some food.

The hissing of gas-fueled flames drew his attention. There on the stove a teapot was slowly steeping. He lifted the lid. Ah yes there was already tea leaves in the water. A plan settled into his mind. With a truly nasty grin, he stepped across the dirty linoleum to the table. Looking through the jars, he found one to serve his purpose. This maneuver should take out one the brats for sure and with any luck, the both of them. The leaves he sprinkled into the pot were light and flaky, rather like fish food. And the good little fishies would drink it making his job much easier.

Now to return to his cozy closet and await the results.

TBC!!

BWAHAHAHA! Complain about cliffies all you want. I am not going to feel the slightest bit sorry!! I am going to have a great deal of fun over the next few chapters!


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: … T

Disclaimer: … T.T

SRTSRTSRT

Walking down the narrow hall, Solaris deftly twisted the dripping strains of her ebon hair into the ever-present braid. She eyed the closet as she passed. They would have to deal with the bugger soon and get rid of him.

She caressed the smooth, precious jars as she passed the table. They were a bane and a strength. The poisons had unleashed so much pain upon her, and yet saved her so much more. Through the pain, she had learned to stand strong. Broken so many times, but the pain of the poisons had erased the other pains. The emotional shattering brought upon her by her so-called family. Never had she willingly partaken in the poisons, nevertheless, they helped her. Few poisons could kill her now unless she imbibed far more then the usual killing amount. Venoms were a different story, but there were so few venomous creatures now.

The teapot started to hiss faintly. Perfect, given a few more minutes it would start whistling. But, she preferred it now. Once it reached a whistling point the tea was too hot for her tastes, so she twisted the knob with a click and turned the fire beneath the pot off. Rinsing out her cup, she filled it and, after an absentminded sip, set about putting stuff together for Quatre. She would take him his tea and rebandage his arm. They could not risk such a serious wound becoming infected.

Sneering at the ration bar, she balanced it atop Quatre's tea. She made to carry it all, but it proved outside her capabilities. With a sigh of regret, she swallowed the last of the tea in her cup freeing up a hand to carry the first aid kit. Setting the now empty cup down, she reached for the kit and froze, the after taste of the tea just registering. It was far too sweet. This blend of tea never left a sweet after taste. Particularly one so familiar.

"Kuso." Ice ran through her veins very soon to be replaced by painful, poisonous fire. Antidote? No. No time, and it was very hard to replace. She should survive this. She rushed to the sink and stuck a finger down her throat. Gagging, she breathed harshly with the first flickers of pain in her stomach. She jammed her finger farther down. It would be far worse if she did not get it out of her stomach. Bile and viscous liquids emptied into the sink. Wishing for the time to wash out her mouth she viciously dumped the contents of the teapot and remaining cup into the sink.

Sudden realization had her cursing a nasty blue streak of words she had picked up from visits to the street. "Quatre! Quatre! Get up. The prisoner! He's on the loose!" A wave of pain had her stumbling. Wrapping an arm around her stomach and reaching for her gun, only to realize she hadn't replaced the holster after her shower. 

"Stupid." She twisted the clasp of the chain slung as always around her hips. It fell free. The slim adamant rod on the end fitting perfectly in her hand. A twist of the ring on the end had the flat links running through the chain slashing out forming razor teeth along the length of metal. Known as a demon tail, the weapon was her favorite though rarely used. Now if only she could get through the pain, which was rapidly getting worse, long enough to take care of the prisoner. Soon she would likely pass out, so she had little time. The Hallucinations were starting. Currently a faint purple bunny bounced along on the ceiling. So quickly. How much had the man put in the tea anyway. Perhaps she should have taken the antidote. Too late now.

"Quatre!" she yelled. She was running out of time. She moved weakly into the hallway. Her muscles started to spasm. This was worse then communicating through Control. Control dropped rapidly to fifteen percent, but it did little to stop the immediate effects of the poison. It could speed up the healing in her body, but it could only handle so much in such a short amount of time. After all, healing was not Control's first function and priority.

The lessening of Control's hold allowed her to make it nearly to the closet just before it opened revealing the leering face of the prisoner. Swaying she leaned on the wall. Her vision grayed. No. He would not get out.

The man rushed her. Lashing out with her Demon tail, a bloody line opened down the man's left temple to his chin. She kicked him in the stomach, but the poison took its toll heavily. Her balance was off. He caught her foot and threw her to the floor. Abruptly another hallucination swamped her. It was more of a memory really. She knew that, but in her state, it felt real, and her brother towered over her with that awful sneering face. The one holding disgust and insane pleasure all in one. She had hoped to never see it again.

She stopped fighting. She did not want to relive these memories. The darkness swallowed her whole.

TBC

BWAHAHAHA … HAHAHAHAHA!!


	26. Chapter 26

Disclaimer: We already know the answer

Disclaimer: We already know the answer.

QRWQRWQRW

Quatre attempted to convince himself to crawl out of the comfortably warm blankets. It just seemed so cold here. Intellectually he knew that it really was not. Solaris was perfectly content to run around in her tank top, but to him it was cold. He was quite sure Duo would have backed him up on that thought, were he here. Nevertheless, he did not want to get up. He was comfortable and his arm didn't hurt at the moment, which was a blessing.

He pressed his face into the pillow with a sigh. The shower had turned off several minutes ago meaning that Wufei and Solaris had been up for quite some time. He really didn't want to be a burden. He should at least try to get up. Sighing again, he pushed away his blankets and reached for his kakis.

"Quatre! Quatre! The Prisoner!"

His head snapped up from buttoning his pants. Solaris' voice sounded wrong, and it wasn't the fact of the prisoner being out. He snatched up his gun and cocked it. Adrenaline flooded his veins, chasing away the weakness plaguing him. Sounds of a scuffle followed ominously by a thump and silence reached his ears. Now it was too quiet.

He eased the door open, peering down the hallway. The Oz soldier crouched in the hallway over Solaris' body.

"It's just you and me now, boy," the man said with a sly wink.

Quatre snarled, sparing a glance at his sister. Sweat beaded her brow. Normally dark caramel skin was now an awful, pale yellow. She lay curled in a fetal position. How had she been reduced to this?

He could not risk shooting the man right now, the position he held over Solaris made it entirely too likely that she would get the bullet as well. Quatre tucked his gun away.

"Heh, so you think you can take me, boy? Well, come on then."

Quatre fervently wished the hallway were wider. Rushing forward, he kicked out at the man. The soldier caught his foot in an iron grip, but it had nothing on Heero's. Mindful of his injured arm he lashed out with a fist, catching the man just below the ear over a sensitive pressure point. Howling, the man dropped his foot.

Taking the chance, Quatre slammed a heel into the man's sternum. The following crunch churned his stomach, but a glimpse of Solaris wiped any sorrow out. The man wheezed, struggling to get up. Quatre's knuckles smashed into his temple. The soldier slumped back to the floor.

Gripping the man's collar, he dragged him off Solaris. She lay so still now. Her face was scribed with pain, but he couldn't see her chest rising with air. Fearfully, Quatre reached for her pulse.

TBC

… T.T SO SAD. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! Why oh WHY do I do these things!!


	27. Chapter 27

Disclaimer: Same...

WCWCWC

Wufei started when his cellphone began the old, supposed classic, star wars, opening theme. Duo chose it for him, claiming it was a perfect justice jingle, and had the audacity to lock it somehow so he couldn't change it to something more agreeable. But, he rarely heard it as the team's cellphones were hardly ever used. They used the laptops or Gundams' airwaves to communicate. It had to be something serious.

"Chang." he snapped into the speaker, worry making his tone sharper then usual.

"Wufei," Quatre sounded weary. "The prisoner got loose."

"What!" he butted in. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes I am fine, but I think he poisoned Solaris. Her pulse is so thready, and her temperature had skyrocketed. It's about 102 and it's only been about twenty minutes."

Knots twisted in his stomach. "Do you need me to return now?"

"No, we need the supplies and ice or something to bring down her fever. Just hurry. I managed to wrap her in a blanket, but I can't get her up on a bed or anything."

"Don't even try. If your wound reopened you'd bleed to death before anyone could help you." his knuckles were turning white around the steering wheel. "Is there anyway to give her an antidote?"

"I have no idea what to give her and I can't trust the prisoner to speak the truth even if he could."

"Even if he could?"

"He isn't in the best of conditions to be speaking at the moment."

"Ah." He didn't need to know any more. Quatre had a soft heart, but when it an to his family he got pissy as Duo would say. Instead of turning the truck around as he wished to do he pressed down firmly on the gas pedal.

"I"ll return as soon as I can, Quatre."

"Roger that." Relief was evident through the speakers. His phone closed with a click. Could they never have a moments peace?

It was dusk before he returned to their secluded cabin. Quatre walked out of the house wearing a weary smile. Wufei frowned. His brother's white completion didn't bode well for his current health.

"Have you rested at all?"

A sheepish glance answered the question.

"Solaris isn't doing very well, I've been trying to keep her cool with a damp clothe but it isn't enough."

Wufei pulled a large cooler out of the truck. "This should help."

"Ice?"

He nodded and carried it into the house. Working quickly the two of them brought everything inside.

"It's late. I will cook something while you tend Solaris."

He almost protested, but realized that he couldn't do both, and they needed to eat. "Fine, but nothing too complicated."

"I am fine, Wufei." Quatre waved him out.

He moved into the living room where Solaris lay on a blanket. Quatre must have been able to drag her on the blanket to get her in here. A chill crept down his spine as he took in her unnatural, pained sleep. Crimson stained her checks with fever. Scooping her up he carried her down the hall over the collapsed soldier. There was no point in laying her under the firmly tucked quilt. He was just going to get the ice packed around her as soon as he could.

Settling her as comfortably as he could he left her to grab the ice and tarpline. The tarps would keep the ice melt from drenching her and soaking the bed. It was a matter of a few minute to spread two tarps beside her and fill them with the cubes of ice. With grace upon them this would bring down her fever. It was all they could offer the girl who showed up so abruptly in their lives without knowing the antidote.

Leaving her side for a few minutes he hoisted the heavy man off the floor and stripped him down to boxers. They should have done this the first time with Duo and Solaris, not to mention Heero's, pack rat tendencies. It never ceased to amaze him how much those three could stash on themselves. Especially Heero. Making sure the closet and man were bare of anything to repick the lock, Wufei threw the soldier down. They would interrogate the man in the morning. This time the man would have no wriggle room. They didn't have any of those manacle extending to the elbows like Oz used on Heero, but at this point it didn't matter. Through his dishonorable actions the soldier lost any small amount of curtasy he may have offered.

TBC

Yes I know I took awhile. I really did plan to get this to you sooner, but life is having fun throwing wrenches into things. I make no promises on when I will get the next chpt out. But I WILL!! Unbetaed as he has gone outta town.


	28. Chapter 28

Well, my beta is on a roll. He deserves a round of applause for getting this done despite comp difficulties!!

Now I did warn you that I wasn't going to update as quickly 'ish', so no yelling. Don't own the rights, though I do have all the dvds.

QRW & WC

The restless night broke with the new dawn, along with Solaris' fever.

Her temp was warm, but well below the dangerous heights that previously threatened. They removed the nearly melted ice together to keep the liquid inside the tarps' boundaries. Wufei then shoved a protesting Quatre into the other bedroom, swearing to keep an eye on their ill and troublesome teammate. Thankfully, her sleep was more natural now, if slightly disturbed. He couldn't tell if she was having a nightmare or was just a twitchy sleeper. He didn't make it a habit to watch his friends' sleeping habits. After mutterings of "No, no, please no.",he settled on nightmare.

Moving to wake her up, Wufei decided the fever would weaken her enough for him to touch her without violent repercussions. He sat on the bed and leaned over her patting her on the cheek. Light amber eyes fluttered open. Her eyes didn't focus on him immediately. A furrow creased her brow, and he found himself trapped in a vise like grip. Before he could react he was flying over the bed to greet the plaster wall.

Wufei climbed to his feet. Taiga was crouched defensively in the corner. Her eyes were still glazed with fever. "Solaris," he called trying to coax her out of it. Her only response was to coil tighter ready to strike. "06, Nightshade!" he snapped.

The military address got through, "05? Status?" "Clear." Slowly her eyes darkened and cleared. They were brown when she straightened and put a steadying hand against the wall. He stepped quickly to help when she stumbled towards the bed. She flinched under his touch, but did nothing else.

Quatre eased pistol first through the door. "Everything alright? What happened?"

"I made the mistake of assuming that the fever would weaken a soldier's reflexes enough to safely loom over her and wake her up."

"I see. Nothing too serious I hope?"

"I am fine. The wall may not be though."

"Solaris?"

"I am fine. I would appreciate a glass of water if it's not too much trouble."

Wufei and Quatre exchanged a quick glance. "Of course it's not. I'll get one for you."

The others had noticed that Solaris and Duo both had trouble asking for help, as though expecting a horrid reaction in return for the request. Heero rarely asked for help either, but that was because he believed he could do anything all by himself.

The two of them watched her drain the glass. "Anything else?"

"No."

"What about the antidote?" Quatre asked.

She shook her head. "I am past the stage where it would do any good. Control was able to multiply the remnants of the antidote all ready in my bloodstream."

"Very well."

For once not one of them rose with the dawn. Quatre put a pot of tea on. It was strange to be the first one up. Unless he was partnered with Trowa or Heero it just didn't happen. The strong scent of brewing tea soon drew the other two out of bed. Solaris entered lacking her usual grace and slumped at the table. She took the offered tea,murmuring her thanks.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better. I should be back to full strength tomorrow.

"I'm glad."

"We should take care of the prisoner today." Wufei leaned against the wall, tea in hand.

Solaris paled a shade. "I think one of you two should take him on. I don't dish out torture very well."

"You are an assassin and a soldier, but you can't handle an interrogation?" Wufei demanded.

She glared coolly. "Flashbacks are a stitch and I just love to put myself in a position to trigger them." Sarcasm weighted her words like lead.

"I'll question him." Quatre broke in before an all out duel could start.

Wufei shuddered under the hint of Zero tinging his brother's voice. His time in Zero opened a cold side to Quatre that no one wanted to tangle with.

QRWQRWQRW

He had Wufei drag the prisoner out to a clearing in the woods, and secure the despicable man to a chair. His arm wouldn't allow him to do it himself. Still he would make the man pay for his actions. Wufei left to work on their Gundams with Solaris. After giving his teammate several minutes to get out of earshot he approached the blindfolded soldier.

"Now. You will tell me everything you know about that black machine." A glob of hawked spit proved to be his answer. Quatre whipped his pistol across his jaw leaving a raw welt. "Speak," he snarled.

"Woof woof."

Quatre pondered his choices. Then knelt down and pressed the barrel of his pistol to the base of the little toe on the man's bare feet pulling the trigger. Screams rent the air.

"Now speak."

SRTSRTSRT Solaris typed steadily over Nightshade's board, scanning the specs for all the damages that needed repair. She winced at the long list of red. This would take awhile. She wasn't sure what she'd learned from Duo would be enough. A thought struck her like a meteor. Control.

What if Doctor K had uploaded data about Nightshade into the AI's memory chip. He knew she wouldn't have a lot of time to devote to learning the system. She couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it before. Even if Control didn't have it directly perhaps Doctor J would send her the data. As soon as she reached to ask, electricity danced through her. It was far worse than the conversations with Doctor J. It felt like a seizure.

She moaned, and rubbed her temples. "Ow." It felt as though AK's were doing a tap dance with Heero's buster cannon in her head. This was the first migraine she'd had in months. Before Control fully settled she would have one every day. There was no way of working like this, but the mere thought of moving made her vision gray.

Would Wufei think her weak if she asked for help? Her family would have. Doctor K had helped, but Doctor J hadn't in the small amount of time she had been with him. If Wufei started in on her being a weak girl she could aways kick his butt again.

She pressed the comm button hoping Wufei was in earshot of the cockpit. "Wufei?"

Blessedly he answered, "Taiga? What is it?"

"I... Will you help me back to the house? I really need to lie down."

The expected criticism did not come. "I'll be right there."

"Thank you."

"Hmhm." Gratitude eased the pounding some. He was willing to help her.

Soon he climbed up into the hatch. "What's wrong?"

"Migraine."

He winced. "How bad?"

"Bad."

"Been there. Come on." he held out a hand and helped her to the forest floor. "Close your eyes. I'll guide you."

She did as told. The light made her dizzy. He guided her surely to the house and her bed.

"Here, these will help." She opened her eyes to see a glass of water and a single pill. "It won't slow you down any more than the pain."

"Thank you." She took it and lay back to wait for it to kick in while Wufei returned to their work outside.

Hours later when she could move without wanting to hurl, Solaris started supper. Quatre was the first to come in. He headed straight for the shower. Knowing where the blood came from she resolutely shoved away the memories of pain and stirred the rice. Wufei came in soon after, covered in dirt and oil.

TBC Okay not the greatest place to pause, but that's all I got at the moment. Thanks for your patience... or not. (If you weren't) lol I'll try to update soon.


	29. Chapter 29

Okay, byt now I'm sure you've gotten a few alerts for these chpts. Sorry I realized the formatting came out weird and edited it so it was readable. Thus having to repost the chpts.

Hey look at that another chapter I make no money for.

SRTSRT

By the time both boys were finished with their showers, dinner was ready and waiting. She sparingly filled her plate not wanting to tax stomach after the poison. The migraine had not helped her recovery any. They kept to agreeable small talk until the edge of hunger wore down.

"Well, what did you get from the prisoner?" Solaris finally asked to get the ball rolling.

Quatre sighed, "That machine was a prototype. He said the AI chip and the whole of the machine needed fine-tuning yet. I barely beat the monstrosity as it was. One at full capacity? I am not sure I could win against it. It is programed to fight individually instead of as a unit like the Dolls. Get them alone and the Dolls fall apart with no strategy to speak of. This thing would only excel in such a battle."

"We have to stop the production of these things." Wufei reached his chopsticks for more chicken.

"X90s."

"Nani?"

"Oz calls them X90s," Quatre explained. "The prisoner gave me several names of those working on the project."

After clearing the table the three of them setup their laptops with searches and hacks for the data and sent messages to the Doctors and other pilots. Between all of them, the X90 data would not stay hidden for long. They would find it and then they would strike to destroy it.

Over the next three days they kept up the searches and repaired their Gundams. With the knowledge pounded painfully into her head, Solaris could now competently do the repairs on Nightshade herself, while Quatre and Wufei worked on Sandrock. At least she could when reactive migraines weren't lancing through her brain, and pounding her into the dirt. She was suffering one now, sprawled in the shade of her Gundam's dark feathered wings.

Beeping emanated from the cockpit just as the pain started to ebb away. Hissing, she got to her feet, bracing against the cool, metal leg while the dizziness swirled her vision. The message proved to be a mission alert for both 05 and 06. It was to locate one Mr. Kracken, who worked on the X90s.

She read the perimeters rapidly, and nodded, mentally accepting the mission. She needed to go clothes shopping! A predatory smirk appeared. And, so did Wufei.

It certainly would not be the first time she'd gone undercover to an elite school to get close to a target. In fact she had done it several times, and Mr, Kracken seemed to be a teacher at an elite school solely for those of the oriental, hence the reason for the operatives to be herself and Wufei. Heero was Japanese, but not pure blood. He'd never pass inspection with those blue eyes.

This school required full formal Kimonos for many of their occasions. Otherwise a light kimono wrap was allowed for the day to day wear. These guys were full of it. Not even the normal school uniforms of most elite school were allowed. Granted a kimono allowed for more weapons, but it also heavily restricted movement. Honestly, what arrogant, pompous person required such an uptight dress code?

Still, it would be fun to get new clothes. She knew exactly where to go.

TBC HA! It may be short but I got another one done!! You can thank my beta for this. If he wasn't staying up late I wouldn't have done it so soon.


	30. Chapter 30

Hello again my lovely readers!!

CWWC

He was being childish and knew it, but couldn't manage to stop. The whole idea of this mission rubbed his nerves the wrong way. To make things worse Quatre and Taiga were having entirely way too much fun with this whole shopping idea. Granted, the market Taiga brought them to was very nice. There were lots of interesting things that, before the war, he would have loved to study. But, now there was no place in his life for mere vanities and comforts. He was a soldier. A warrior of Justice and Vengeance.

"Come on Wufei."

And he was being dragged around like a little boy at the mercy of his sister. Or worse a boyfriend chained to his girl. Was there no Justice after all? He groaned as a tailor sign adorned the window of the shop in front of them. He found his belief in such slipping. Where was the justice in this torture?

"Spare me please." he sank to the low depths of pleading.

Quatre gave him a shove, belying his strength, "You are going undercover. You must have the proper attire." He gave in. There was no winning against this pair.

A bell tinged merrily with the opening of the door.

A young, doe eyed girl sat behind the long counter, waiting for bolts of fabric to be spread down it's length. "Welcome."

Incense burners released light jasmine scents. Bolts of fabric, spindles of thread, and bright ribbons were displayed neatly on stands in the wide space. Solaris unzipped her boots, setting them on a mat beside the door.

Solaris bowed to the girl, "Thank you for your hospitality. If I may, I would appreciate speaking to Lady Phoenix."

"Oh my," The girl flustered. "Please wait here a moment. May I ask who I should tell her is calling?"

"Tell her Lady Star is here for a favor."

"Excuse me, I shall tell her." the young girl slipped through the sliding doors leading to the back where the actual sewing work was completed.

They didn't have to wait long. A beautiful woman swept out of the back rooms right to Solaris enveloping her in a hug. "It has been far too long Star-chan. I worried."

Solaris returned the embrace to the astonishment of her teammates. "I missed you too. I haven't worked in the area for a long time. May I introduce two friends of mine? Please, this is Quatre and Wufei. We work together."

"Ah it is so nice to meet you!" Wufei found himself enveloped in the woman's arms. "Star-chan has never brought friends before. I wondered if I was the only one she had." Before he could protest the onna's greeting, she moved on to Quatre.

Lady Phoenix stepped back and bequeathed them with a gracious smile. "Now if I know Star-chan at all, she is not here solely for fun. What do you need?"

Solaris explained the need for a full new wardrobe. Wufei was surprised when the onna did not question the order at all, but ushered them into the back. Girls swarmed them with measuring tapes and fabric samples. Even Quatre was pushed onto a stand under the girls' ministrations. Solaris told him to go with it. It was an honor to be attended so. This shop catered only to those they deemed worthy whether poor or rich.

Wufei was displeased when Taiga was released shortly after Quatre while he was still poked and prodded.

"They have most of my measurements already, and Quatre is not in need of a full set of clothes." Solaris attempted to sooth his protests.

In between the occasional basic fitting and design choice, Solaris and Lady Phoenix talked over tea. He was forced to endure this for hours. Just when he thought he'd die the onnas wound down.

"Your clothes will be ready day after tomorrow. We have no other pressing orders at the moment, so we will all work on it."

"Thank you, Phoenix."

"Anytime, Star, you know that."

"Yes I know."

Glad to be free of the place he did not immediately call her on her familiarity with Lady Phoenix, but couldn't hold his temper for long. "You came very close to revealing our secrets in there, Taiga."

"She knows I am an assassin, Wufei. She believes you to be as well. Phoenix will not question or tell on us."

"Is she one as well? Why do you trust her so?" Quatre asked.

"We have very similar pasts and pains. We met on an assignment of mine, three years ago. Either of us would die before betraying the other."

"Fine. We need her anyway. Are we done shopping now?" Wufei snapped.

"One more store." There was a sly smile playing over his teammate's lips.

"Must we?"

"Hmm. Yes, yes I believe we must."

Once more she led the way deftly through the crowded streets. "Oh stop dragging your feet. I think you'll like this one." Turning, finally into a quiet, dark alley she led them about half ways down before she stopped.

"Here we are." Her words were filled with excitement and anticipation.

"Taiga," Wufei scorned. "It is a grungy little shop in an alley. Why would I want to come here?"

"Purely for personal and intellectual pleasure, come on." With no choice but to follow or wander the dizzying streets of the market they followed.

A gasp of surprise escaped him. The store was much larger then it appeared from the outside. Though untidy, it was clean, the engraved pillars polished to a mahogany shine. Shelves packed with books towered to the high ceiling. Random stacks of books waited near various chairs, tables and couches.

"There is very little order in here, so have fun!"

Dumbfounded, Wufei watched the girl vanish amidst the bookshelves. But, they had a mission to prepare for.

"Wow." Quatre poked through a large pile of books on too small a table. "There are some very rare books in here."

Well, it couldn't hurt to look just a little bit. The scholar buried in his soul, poked his nose out to scent the sweet smell of old books.

TBC.

This was mostly a filler chpt though there are slight hints of Solaris' past nothing terribly obvious though. I will be getting on to the mission soon!


	31. Chapter 31

Hello my wonderful readers! One final shopping chpt then on to the mission!!

SRTSRT

The time to collect their tailored clothes had finally arrived. While she did not like the thoughts of having to wear such restrictive clothing, it was fun to receive new clothes. She was a female after all. To bad she hadn't had the time to order more of her normal clothes. Those she could have used beyond the mission. It would be nice to have a bit more variety.

There were only a couple of girls with Lady Phoenix in the shop today. She figured the others were taking a well deserved day off. Though she highly suspected that the girls would rather work themselves to the bone here rather than the ones Lady Phoenix saved them from. It was in a similar situation where she had been Lady Star. They had gotten free together after she had completed her assignment.

Three finished piles of clothes waited for them on the counter.

"Quatre-san, you go first. There is less for you to try." Lady Phoenix urged.

Quatre stepped forward and carried the smallest stack behind the changing screen. In turn he displayed, amber slacks to be paired with a dark green, amber trimmed shirt or a light blue sleeveless tunic, trimmed in dark blue.

"Looking very nice, Quat."

"These are wonderful, thank you, Lady Phoenix."

"It was our pleasure, truly. Wufei please go next." He was waved behind the screen with a much larger pile then Quatre's.

Solaris hiked herself up on the counter to wait her turn. She still couldn't believe that the school was easier on the boys. Wufei took entirely too much pleasure this morning in pointing out that he was allowed to wear pants instead of a kimono if he so desired. It just was not fair.

For the mission, Wufei was forced to forgo his morning white. Red, blue, and green were the main colors amidst his selection of shirts, tunics, and kimono wraps. The slacks, mainly black, matched everything. Two formal kimonos were included. The first was gleaming red silk with a burnt orange obi. White leaves were thick around the hem. The other black and blue kimono had a light blue bamboo design.

Finally after it was assured that everything fit perfectly, it was her turn. She picked up her pile with a whisper of silk and cotton. Her clothes were a mixture of purples, and reds with a few pinks buried beneath. The everyday wraps of cotton were weaved of solid colors to be layered together. Surprisingly, they were comfortable, but still restrictive. She did score one pair of slacks and two shirts, similar to the boys'. One shirt and the pants were black; the other shirt was more of a sleeveless tunic of purple and gold fabric. She wouldn't be fighting in them, but it she could wear them in what little down time they had. She had two formal kimonos as well; one in black and gold with purple bamboo, the other dark purple with red sakura blossoms.

"They are beautiful, Phoenix."  
"I am so glad you like them, Star-chan. Now before you change into your old clothes, try these.

"What?" In her hand was a pile of soft leather.

"I knew you would be around sooner or later wearing rags, so I had some ready for a final fitting."

The item on top was a pair of low slung, ink black pants. Slashes down the sides showed a deep red leather beneath. Searching over the seams she found built in holes for her weapons. A shirt of the same red on her pants fit snuggly with slashes down the spine revealing ink black leather. There were more areas to stash her flat blades and needles. The final item proved to be a black over-tunic that hung to just below her knees.

Happily, she transferred all her weapons and stepped out to show off her new favorite outfit. It turned out that Lady Phoenix had one more surprise. On the counter waited a pair of new half finger gloves, and black boots.

TBC

Okay, okay I know that was a LOT about clothes. I tried to keep from going overboard, but it was still longer than I meant it to be. What can I say I'm a girl and an artist. We like these things. LoL ANYWAY, the mission starts next! No more shopping Wufei should be happy now.


	32. Chapter 32

Okay I know it's been a while, but this part proved a lot harder to write then I thought it would

Okay I know it's been a while, but this part proved a lot harder to write then I thought it would. Anyway, here's a little bit until I can pull more out of my head. - I know where I want it to go; it's just being stubborn about building the bridge to it.

I normally do it from one character's pov but in this chpt, I switch around a bit.

Kizoku means lord!!

Sora is Solaris!!

Oh and the car is the new model! Not the old one. Look it up. Drool worthy car!!

SRT and WC

A silver Aston Martin DBS pulled smoothly into the circular drive of the Honorable School for the Orient. It was perhaps a shade on the sporty side for the school's image, but then it wasn't the school's was it. The real point was that it was expensive. Expensive enough for the niece and nephew of the exocentric Kizoku Takato Subaku. The Kizoku had taken them in after their parent's recent death. While Sora and Wufei had previously gone to very nice exclusive school, the Kizoku desired them to go to a more traditional school.

What few knew was that the Kizoku had absolutely no contact with the outer world. He had cut off all communications and secluded himself in the middle of the Amazons, which, while not entirely impenetrable, was rather difficult to traverse. Therefore, anyone wishing to check with the Kizoku about his niece and nephew would find only that he was currently out of contact; here were his instructions, and a nice amount of zeros on the enrollment deposit.

From the driver's side stepped a haughty, caramel skinned boy. He paced around the car opening the door and offering a hand. A demure girl took it stepping gracefully out. As they walked through the corridors, she pressed close to her brother avoiding the curious eyes of the other students.

WC

Wufei did not push Solaris away when she pressed close to him in the halls. It would ruin his image as older, protective brother. However, he did not like being in such close proximity with anyone. Much less Taiga. No, he had to remember to call her Sora, or sister. This dratted mission. He much preferred being in honorable battle.

He rapped sharply on the office door.

"Come in.'

He guided Sora inside. "Principle-san. I am Wufei Subaku and this is my sister Sora. We are here to pick up our schedules."

"Ah yes, about time you two got here." Wufei twitched. They were perfectly on time. The bony principal prodded a button. "Sumae, send in Eiji and Aya." The man sorted through the papers on his desk. "Here are your schedules. Please try to memorize them quickly."

That was easy enough. A quick scan of the page, and they knew they could quote it to his face. A knock interrupted whatever the unpleasant man had been about to say. "Come in." 

"Principle-san, you asked for us?"

"Yes. Aya, Eiji, take Wufei and Sora and show them around the school." 

"Of course, Principle-san." The two students bowed and beckoned to the new arrivals.

"Whew! Glad to be out of there. I thought we were in some sort of trouble when we got summoned." The boy, Eiji, grinned. "Okay, my name is Eiji Kurasaki.

"I'm Aya Sueichi! As long as you stay out of trouble and avoid Principle-san this school's not too bad."

"It is an honor to meet you," Wufei said.

"A pleasure." Sora smiled gently.

"Come show us your schedules and we'll show you the stuff you need to know." The two of them were led around the main school building and then the grounds finally ending up at the girl's dorm.

"All of your stuff should be here already. We'll let you settle in. Don't forget dinner is in an hour." Aya waved as she walked back down the pathway with Eiji, and they were alone for a moment.

"I am going to explore the grounds tonight," Solaris said, sounding for a moment like the fighter he knew. "The Sat images only give us so much, and I spotted a couple of places to check out on our tour."

"I will as well when I can get out."

"Right. You should go back up to your dorm.

"Very well, I will see you then, sister."

TBC

Not my best I know. But at least I have started the mission!! Right, right??

(Nope - Ed. Yaris)

.

T.T

I'm Sorry!! But it was Really hard to write!! I promise I'll do better!!


	33. Chapter 33

Should be a bit better than the last, but it was still hard to write

Should be a bit better than the last, but it was still hard to write. I think after this it will come a little easier. Wufei is nice to the other girls because they are not trying to fight.

WC and SRT

The next four days and nights consisted of integrating into the school, and learning every inch of the grounds and surrounding suburbs.

Sora proved to be a quiet, gentle girl excelling in art, and well rounded in her other subjects. She made several friends with ease.

Her older brother, Wufei, was proud and honorable. Always considerate of his sister and the other girls, he inhaled his history and social studies. Though the first one to call him a pansy for his love of books, bit the wooden floor in the dojo.

It was strange to see Solaris acting so feminine. He had never doubted that she was a girl, but she had never exuded it with every graceful wave of her paint bush, or coo over a flower offered to one of the other girls. Wufei was not sure he liked it. The strange girl had forced him to accept her by beating him fairly in a duel, and continued to prove her strength in battle against machine, man, and poison. Now she seemed so weak.

Still, he occasionally caught flashes of Solaris hidden behind Sora while they tracked the habits and routines of Sensei Kracken. Right now, he toiled in history class, which Sensei Kracken taught while Solaris took her free period to search his house. Honestly, he was the most boring teacher. Even though he loved the subject, this man just about put him into permanent sleep for the atrocity he made of it.

Laughter interrupted his musing and he sneered down into his book. Those buffoons were in all of his classes. All of the kids here were rich, and most were heirs to great estates. As they were all on equal footing money wise, they meshed fairly well, with little of the social ranks a public school had. Nevertheless, even this one had its bullies, and the five buffoons behind him held the title. So far, he had managed to avoid them, especially since they preferred to pick on the girls. He had yet to notice anything bad enough to risk drawing attention to himself. The buffoons disgusted him. Dishonorable, ignorant bullies. Wufei sniffed disdainfully, and returned his attention to the droning Sensei, hoping Solaris found something in her search.

SRT

"K'so!" Solaris growled. Did the blasted Ozzie never dust? She twisted to avoid brushing the shelf and disturbing the layer of dirt. At least the floor was clean enough that she was not leaving tracks. She couldn't risk touching much any smooth surface though. It was all dusty. Things would be much simpler if they could just snatch the Ozzie and interrogate him, but reports said that he met with others on the project and if they could catch a meeting, it would be invaluable.

Despite the fact that the dust was the only challenge of her mission, she was glad to be away from the school. Playing Sora was hard. She felt vulnerable. Sora was a gentle weak girl. Whenever a boy pressed to close, she fretted, because of her cover she could not fight back. Control and training would not let her. Anyone got frisky; she would pretty much have to take it. First sign of aggression Control would lock down so fast she would likely pass out. No, she was much more comfortable here, alone in her element of shadow. Where she had been born and raised.

TBC

Hey! Look it I got another chpt done!! Is it any better? ?-? Huh huh?


	34. Chapter 34

Here is another chpt for your consumption! We might see a bit of Solaris' past.

WCCW

Wufei and Eiji walked side by side from the dojo. They had stayed behind to do their share of the cleaning. A cool wind swept around them, bringing gray clouds to hover above. It had been two weeks and still nothing from their hunt of Kracken.

"Hey, Wufei. Do you think your Grandfather would mind if I asked Sora-chan out sometime?"

"NANI? You want to ask her out?"

"You don't have to sound so shocked. I know she's your sister, but you have to have noticed how beautiful, and kind she is."

"Nani!" Wufei could only stare a Eiji in shock. Date? Sora? Eiji? "No. I believe Grandfather has plans for her. So he would likely forbid it."

"She's already betrothed?"

"He is negotiating it."

"But, why hasn't she mentioned it?"

"Sora does not know yet."

"Oh." Eiji hung his head like a kicked puppy.

Wufei squashed the small nasty piece of triumph that roiled in his chest. Eiji was not worthy of Sora or Solaris. She was his teammate and he would take on the duty of ridding her of little pests. Eiji was a nice enough guy, but he was weak and childish.

A scream-like a cat's shriek of furious, terrific pain rent the blissful evening.

SRTSRTSRT

Aya laughed, "Ah but he likes you Sora. I think it's sweet. He hardly ever stops watching you. All cow eyed too."

"I don't want a relationship right now. It seems so soon. Mother and Father just died. I'm not ready for any more pressure." Sora slipped her shoes off wiggling her toes in the thick grass.

"I can understand that I guess." Aya sobered. "Still, Eiji would be a good catch!"

Solaris laughed lightly with practiced eased. "He is nice."

But so naive. Plus the thought of getting to know a boy in such a way made her shudder. No. Never. Duo's constant need to pounce all of them had eased her immediate attack reaction and dulled the fear and fury brought by touch, but she refused to let anyone closer. Not that she really thought Eiji would dare try anything. He was too sweet. Still, she wouldn't get anywhere near such a situation if she could help it.

"I wish it wasn't so far to the dorms from class," Aya whined. "It takes forever."

"It's not that bad. Besides, it's cool out right now, the breeze is nice," Solaris said. They'd been working late on an essay in the library, so there weren't many students out and about. She relished the calm. Student life was so much more chaotic then a battle. You didn't have to interact with people. Just kill them. She couldn't wait till this mission was finished. As far as undercover missions went this one was one of her least favorites.

"Well, well. It looks like we found a couple of beauties tonight boys."

Solaris spun around to face the five boys behind. She had known they were coming near, but had not expected a confrontation. "What do you want?"

"Yah! What do you want?" Aya yelled bravely. "Sora, these guys are bad news," she whispered. "They like to bully all the girls. I heard rumors they assaulted a couple of girls in the C dorm.

Ice froze her stomach. They were alone. There was no way they both could out run all five boys in these blasted kimonos. Her worst fear had just been realized.

The boys encircled them, sneering. Aya clung to Sora's arm. "All alone tonight, my lovelies?"

The lean leader reached to stroke her face. She smacked it away. Control was already in full lock down slapping was all she could do.

"Oh, she's a feisty one boss." 

Behind her Aya whimpered as two of the boys grabbed her. "Please, don't."

Sora grit her teeth as hands began to wander. "Don't touch me." 

"Now, now. Behave or we will ruin your reputations. You will have nothing. No man will take you. Stay quiet and no one has to know."

She itched to lose her claws and gouge out his eyes or draw the knife from her sleeve and slit his throat. She knew she could kill them all in minutes. Probably seconds. Control dumped more chemicals into her bloodstream. The A.I knew she was on a mission and would not let her lose her cover even if it meant this defilement. She could not endure it again. She had sworn never again.

Solaris filled her lungs, and using the only option left, screamed.

TBC

Well how's that for a chpt? I guess the mission never was a big part here. I am going to get to it a bit, but I've been planning this scene and it's companions for ages. I just needed a mission to get them here.


	35. Chapter 35

Ah, well I figured you all might like another chpt now

Ah, well I figured you all might like another chpt now. -

WCCW

The scream came from his right in the direction of the willow-lined walkways to the girls' dorms. They had passed the path's fork a couple of minutes ago, continuing towards their own dorm. Wufei did not bother to go back to the fork, instead cutting directly across the thick grass Eiji hot on his heels.

"That sounded really bad," the boy panted.

Wufei just ran faster when a new scream ripped the air. Whatever was happening he could not just stand by and let it happen. It would taint his honor for all eternity.

It took far too long for the source of the screams to come into sight underneath the trees. The five buffoons surrounded Sora and the girl, Aya. Wufei snarled at the positions of the males' hands. Aya's attackers had red scores down their faces from her nails. Sora just stood there trembling with a male hand clamped tightly over her mouth. She saw him coming. He locked eyes with her and saw that instead of her normal fierce amber they were pitch black and filled with despair.

Using his momentum, Wufei leapt into the air landing a spin kick into the lead buffoon's head. He crumpled without a sound. Back on his feet, Wufei whirled and chopped the closest neck. Eiji jumped in with a furious cry dropping one of Aya's attackers with a right hook. Aya managed to knee the other where it hurts. Wufei sucker punched the last.

He turned to Sora to find her on her knees trembling. As a big brother should, he wrapped his arms around her. Eiji did the same for Aya who was sobbing loudly.

"Hey, what happened? We heard screams." A couple of boys from a younger class jogged up.

"Go find Principle-san or one of the teachers. These five just attacked my sister. It cannot go unpunished. My Grandfather will see them expelled and charges pressed when he hears of this."

It was not an idle threat even if it had to wait until the mission was done he would be sure to ruin these buffoons. It was, after all, what they deserved. Justice would be done.

Tbc

Okay okay. I know it is short but it was like the perfect place to end this one. Would have thrown the balance if I had written more here. More ASAP!!


	36. Chapter 36

Hello again people

Hello again people! - To those of you who reviewed many thanks. I love to hear from you.

WCCW

After the principle and several of the teachers arrived, Wufei told them in no uncertain terms that if the five buffoons were not immediately expelled the consequences to the school's reputation would be grave. Reputation was everything to these people, even over their honor. For while honor and reputation seemed the same they were in truth very different. Honor in this school had already been tarnished beyond redemption. Reputation was all the thin, cold comfort they had left to cling to.

After a few minutes of trembling, Solaris pulled back, hugging herself. He made sure to stay close, though at the first time he stepped away her fingers curled around his wrist, and something akin to fear shone in her dark eyes. She couldn't bear to be touched, but he was the only one in the crowd she trusted anywhere near her. The buffoons were led away and the students were left alone. Aya huddled into Eiji's arms the other students gathered around cooing over them with sympathies.

"Wufei, get me out of here please," Solaris whispered desperately. "Take me somewhere I can run. I need to run."

He just nodded and guided her away from the others shooing them off. They had clothes and supplies stored in the Aston Martin, so they could stay away for a while. The computers would monitor the tracking devices on Kracken. He opened the car door and waited while she slid inside. There were several hiking trails up the nearby mountains. Solaris could run to her heart's content there. The car was silent for the four-hour ride. Solaris was by no means comfortable. Her posture was tense and coiled, radiating a wounded 'don't dare touch me'. Her eyes slowly lightened over time from onyx to chocolate till they were back to amber.

He parked the car near a trail rest stop. Solaris darted out of the car while he popped the trunk. She snatched out the duffle bag with her clothes and disappeared into the woman's bathrooms to change. By that time, he had changed as well. She stood fidgeting at one of the several trailheads. "Are you coming or not?"

"You wish me too? "

"If you think you can keep up." With that, she was gone. Muttering, Wufei tossed his duffel into the car running even before the door latched shut. He hit the lock button on his key chain for a reassuring chirp. The forest edge swallowed him up quickly and he was in a different world. The trail was rough with protruding roots and encroaching vines just waiting to trip him up. Remembering the quick glance at the map, he knew they were definitely on the hardest trail. The steep stair of rocks in front of him enforced this. At the top Solaris stood impatiently.

The pattern continued. She would race ahead, give him a few minutes to catch up and then fly off again. After a while of climbing, the trail leveled out turning so they were running along the side of the mountain on a narrow trail. Here Wufei was able to keep up, as she was not leaping up rocks like a mountain cat. She just flat out ran. Completely disregarding the heights only a foot to the side should they stumble. He had no great fear of heights but the view was slightly disconcerting. The adrenaline rush, on the other hand, outweighed the heights by far.

After a while he realized that somewhere along the trail the girl in front of him had gone from meek little Sora back to his fiery teammate Solaris. Every stride she made screamed power and confidence, rather than the jumpy fidgeting she had done at the start. He quirked a smile and increased his speed to keep up.

They reached an outlook over the valley and it was here she stopped sitting on the low stone wall at the edge. "Thank you."

He only inclined his head and settled cross-legged on the wall facing her. "Are you alright?"

She snorted and smirked. "I just got felt up and never even got to knee the dude." The smirk slid away. "Not really." Solaris stared over the valley. "It was my worst nightmare. I swore once that I would never let myself get touched like that again. But I couldn't fight back." Her breath hitched.

"Again?" Wufei asked.

"You already know that my family disliked me. In truth, they feared and hated me. Their creation and they hated me. I was as strong as they dreamed and they could not control me. At first, they tried to punish me with poisons. However, then they realized I was used to them. The threat held no power over me. I was eleven then. Eleven years old and they feared me." She laughed bitterly. My brother offered to take me in hand. He took me all right. They had found the perfect leash. I step even the slightest bit out of line and the elders would lock me into his room."

Wufei just sat in stunned silence as she poured out her past. How could anyone be so cruel? Yes, he had married young, but he hadn't been broken and used like that.

"Ironically, it was my brother that freed me as well. Doctor K already approached me about piloting Nightshade, but I was scared. I would not risk it. Until the day I realized I was pregnant."

He choked, "You have a kid?

A soft smile graced her lips. "Two, actually. I was carrying twins." A hand rubbed across her stomach. "They gave me the courage I needed to get out."

"Where are they?" Meiren had never gotten pregnant, and she was older than his teammate.

"The doc set it up so they were adopted to a good family. One that wouldn't raise them to be assassins. They'll be a year and a half next month."

"You were fourteen!"

A breeze swept over them; cool still, from the clouds hovering near. "Yes. The scar from the C section is the only one I am proud of and would go through again and again." She flopped back on the wall, arm, and leg dangling precariously over.

He just watched her. She was at peace again. "So they are the reason you fight?"

"Hmm, I will help the world find peace so they can live happily."

"That is honorable."

They just rested there in the quiet for several hours while the sun sank in the sky. The sky tinged red as they started back down at an easier pace.

Tomorrow they would have to take up their roles and complete the mission, but for now, they were just friends.

TBC 

And there we are. I did try to get it done sooner, but life got in the way. This is a B-Day present for Editor Yaris01. Happy Birthday!!


	37. Chapter 37

Hello

Hello. Hope you are all having a lovely summer. Mine is busy but good.

WCCWSRTSRT

After their run up the mountain, the days at school passed quietly. For them at least. The five buffoons had started a small uproar and subtle investigation of the school. Overall, it was proving quite boring. They could not even spar in the morning, as the girls were not allowed in the dojo. It was a man's sport, or so the rules stated. Many of the girls and boys disagreed, but there you have it. It was muggy and hot to top it off.

Solaris folded her paper into a fan and put it to good use. They were in History class with Kracken again. Boring. If she were Duo, she would have pulled a dozen pranks by now in order to survive. He would not have been caught on any of them either. As it was, the only thing she'd done was send spitballs at seemingly impossible targets. Nobody even looked at her. She was careful to avoid splatting Wufei, as he would know she could pull it off and get pissy again. Now it had lost its fun though. She settled down to doodling on a scrap piece of paper. By the time class was over a fully shaded dragon wound around the corner of the page. She would tear out the page and add it to her collection later.

Wufei knew full well that Solaris was the cause of the 'ewws' and 'grosses' around the room. He did not manage to catch her at it, however. Not that he minded, as long as she avoided him. He would die before admitting it, but the other's reactions to getting splatted were hilarious. When no more hushed exclamations came, he glanced to his right over his shoulder and saw she had turned her attention to her book and pencil in hand. He idly wondered what she drew this time.

It was not until the next day that something finally happened with their mission. It seemed that Sensei Kracken had taken the evening class off. The two of them immediately got quite ill. Solaris with a migraine, and he with an ill stomach. They were both given permission to return to their dorms. They did so, but only for a few moments and then they were gone, tracking their illusive prey.

Parking their rather obvious Aston martin outside a private baths, they ordered a session and slipped out the back taking a set of keys with them. On the far side of town, they found Kracken hovering over a cup of coffee and a set of Tec papers only a geek could understand. From where they sat, Solaris could here the conversation perfectly. It only confirmed that the woman was their next target leading to the end of the X90s.

When the two separated, Solaris slipped away and followed the woman. The lady was in no hurry making it easy to stumble into her and attach two tracking bugs to her clothes. Heero was in the area. They had called him earlier. He would pick up her trail while they took out Kracken.

Finally, they were getting somewhere after three weeks. The way the woman walked was proof that she was from Oz. Kracken did not walk like a soldier, but she did. Melting away into the crowd, Solaris left her to return to her partner.

"Shall we?"

"Of course. I am quite ready to leave this damnable school." Wufei stood tossing money on the table for their bill and they left. Kracken was moving back to his dusty lair. There they would corner him.

The neighborhood hummed with the evening sounds as they approached the house in their borrowed car, parking it behind the house. The door gave easily under her lock-picks and they stepped inside. A TV in the living room offered the only noise, besides that of the snoring man. It really hadn't taken him long to fall asleep. He must have had a long day. Too bad for him it was about to get much, much longer.

Wufei pressed the flesh-warm muzzle of his gun into the man's pale neck. "It's doubtful he knows more then the onna."

Solaris checked the messages on her phone for the newest set of orders that they had been expecting. "Heero has his target. We have orders to kill him."

"Shooting him seems terribly messy. Would you do the honors?"

As her answer, Solaris pulled a three-inch needle out, which gleamed darkly in the light. "May you find solace in death." She plunged it into the slumbering man's neck. Solaris sneered, as he still did not stir. "Wake up." She slapped him hard.

With an undignified snort, the man jerked up in his seat. "Sora, Wufei? What are you two doing here?" He took in the gun pressed against his neck.

"We are here for your death. You will find it quite painful I am sure. The poison must be taking affect by now. Hurts doesn't it?" Solaris purred. "It is the reparations for you dishonorable actions against the people."

TBC

Okay I guess I got bored with the dude and ended it there. He's quite dead now.

Sorry for the delay in getting it up. Beta Yaris had it done, but it saved wrong and he lost it, so he had to do it again.


	38. Chapter 38

I know I didn't play up the last mission much

I know I didn't play up the last mission much. Hope you all don't mind. Anyway onward we go. More action is soon to come so don't worry.

HDQWS no T

It seemed that most of them were together again for the time being. Unfortunately, Trowa was on an infiltration mission and wouldn't be joining them for another week or so. Duo was happily showing Solaris how much Chinese he'd picked up already and she only needed to correct him on a few things before adding to his vocabulary. Soon Wufei would not be able to babble things over his head, and Duo could give him the smack he so deserved.

Quatre's arm was fully healed by now, with only another fine white scar to go with all the others. He had once again procured a nice safe house with his family's name. No pool this time, but it nestled along a lazy, shallow river with numerous waterfalls just a few miles down stream. He spent most of his time hovering over the maps of various Oz camps, mission reports, and Intel from the Docs near at hand. He would decide where it would be best to strike next.

Heero joined him between interrogation sessions with the captured woman. It did not take much for her to start spilling, but he had a feeling she was hiding something behind the less significant info. She lasted a week. Not bad for a woman as Wufei sneered. Still she had broken and given them one final name. Kyo Sukawa. He was the one who originally designed the X90s. He still oversaw most of their production. Take him out and it would vastly stall the process.

Taking the little information the woman had known to Quatre and the others, they began to narrow the search for the instigator of the newest threat to the peace they strived so hard to bring about.

Solaris sighed and slumped forward onto the table. "Okay guys this isn't going to get anywhere fast. My brain is frying and from the looks of it so are yours. We need to get out of the house for a while."

Duo jumped up exuberantly, "Let's go swimming!"

"But the river is so shallow," Quatre protested.

"Not by the falls. There are several pools of water there." Heero offered.

Solaris stood up and stretched, "Sounds good to me, let's go."

"It would be nice to cool off," Wufei grudgingly admitted and set his half-empty teacup on the counter. It was a waste but the weather was far too warm to drink hot tea.

"Um, do we have anything to actually swim in though? Like swim suits?" Quatre asked hesitantly.

Duo laughed, "Q-man, Q-man, our overly privileged boy. Just wear a pair of shorts like the rest of us." Duo peered into Quatre's blushing face. "You do have shorts don't you?"

Quatre laughed sheepishly, "Actually…"

"Ah you can borrow some of mine. We are about the same size. Fei fei what about you man?" Duo threw the question over his shoulder at the dark eyed teen.

He glared at the name but resisted the urge to kill. "I must admit I don't own any shorts."

"You would fit some of Heero's better than mine I think, or you could chop off the legs of some of your jeans. I know you have a pair or two of those."

Before the question could be directed at her, she laid it to rest. "I have a pair I can use." They split up vanishing into their separate rooms to change. Well, Heero just sat down and waited, he wore shorts all the time. Solaris came down in a short pair of black, cutoff jeans and a dark red, wife-beater tank. Duo and Quatre wore cargo shorts. Duo wore his normal black and Quatre wore kaki. Dou's cross gleamed against his skin. Wufei finally joined them in his blue tank and a long pair of cutoffs.

"All right lets move people!" Duo crowed and lead the way out the door.

Heero laughed and darted past him leaping down the steps. "Hey!" Duo yelled.

Solaris snickered, "Tag you're it!" She slapped Dou over the head and raced off on Heero's heels. Quatre quickly ran out of tagging range. Wufei just looked puzzled as Duo turned to him, a dangerous grin illuminating his face.

"What?" he backed away wishing he knew exactly why the others had abandoned him to the idiot.

Duo dashed forward smacking him in the arm. "Tag! Now you're it. Catch us if you can!"

"MAXWELL, get back here. I am not IT!"

"You are unless you can catch one of us." Duo yelled and ran faster.

The teammates separated to avoid the IT, all moving in the general direction of the falls. Wufei caught up to Heero shoving him into a tree before racing off in Solaris' direction. Heero hooked a foot around Duo's ankle sending him into a face plant. "Hey! I was already it!"

"So?" Heero laughed manically and was gone."

"Oi! Q-ball! Watch out, Heero's on your tail!" Duo yelled. Quatre swerved to avoid the perfect soldier and ended up in Duo's path.

"Hah! You're it!"

"Duo! That's cheating, you said Heero was it!"

"No, no I didn't!" Duo cackled and leapfrogged Wufei.

Quatre muttered and decided Solaris should be his target. Except, he couldn't find her. Well, then, Wufei it was. The IT title was passed between the boys the whole way down the riverbank. None of them spotted Solaris to tag and assumed she was hiding and chose an easier target.

They reached the first of the falls, which was really no more then a bump in the river and

still no Solaris. 

"Where'd she go?"

"Did she get that far ahead?"

"Hm." Heero grunted. They ran on, searching now for signs of their missing teammate. She had yet to be tagged and they would get her.

A wet Solaris regarded them from atop her high boulder. "What took you guys so long?" I've been here for ages."

"You cheated!" Duo accused.

"Did I? Nobody said that we couldn't swim down. The middle of the river is just deep enough."

"Get her!" Quatre sounded the battle cry and an afternoon of water war was begun.

TBC

There we go a hit of missions to come and some fun in the sun. They play rather rough don't they? LOL


	39. Chapter 39

Ah, hello people

Ah, hello people. Please don't hit me. I know I have updated very well lately.

The bikes are all real, but besides the look, I know nothing about them so please excuse me if something rings wrong.

As I haven't managed to buy Gundam wing in the last little while since I last wrote, I do not own Gundam wing.

HDTQWS

The Docs gave them the location of Kyo, and the specs of his fortress of a house.

"This is worse then that base on the moon," Duo groaned.

"At least it has an atmosphere," Trowa said quietly with a nearly hidden smirk. He had just returned from his mission a few days ago with freshly cracked ribs and a dislocated shoulder. He would not be joining any missions for a week. They couldn't afford to give him any more recuperation time than that.

"True, true." Duo nodded agreement. "So obviously Heero is going on this one. He's the best hacker we've got and this dude's mainframe is likely a hard nut to crack. Who's his partner going to be? Trowa would normally be the first choice but he can't do much at the moment."

"I'm afraid my skills don't match to the mission. Wufei doesn't really fit either," Quatre murmured staring into his swirling tea with the fascination of exhaustion.

"So it's you or me sis. We are pretty evenly matched skill wise."

"Heero?" Solaris quirked an eyebrow at their leader.

"Hn."

"Weeelll, that's really helpful, Heero. Guess it's up to the luck of the draw then sis. Anybody know where the straws are in this place?" Duo bounced around the kitchen digging through the drawers.

In the end, no straws were found. Trowa helpfully provided a quarter after watching Duo search through all the drawers. She called tails and the quarter did a face plant on the wooden floor.

"Ah, buggers." Duo drawled mournfully. "I wanted to go. Missions with Heero always turn out so much more exciting. Something always goes boom. Though usually it's him. Nah never mind, sis, you can have him. The weirdo sets his own bones."

So it was settled and Solaris found herself buzzing down a treacherous mountain road with Heero just behind on his newly acquired, oz funded motorcycle. They had all gone vehicle shopping, as the only transport they had besides the Aston martin was their Gundams. She had to admit the bike beneath purred like a dream. She had driven bikes before but never had the chance to choose one to her liking. Hers was a Kawasaki Ninja ZX6R done in silver. The bike Heero drive so smoothly behind her was a Kawasaki Z1000 in black. Trowa had also chosen a Kawasaki, his being a lime green ZX-6RR. Wufei got stuck on the Ducati 999R red, and refused to even glance at any other choices. Quatre went with his desert colors and decided on a metallic, burnt orange Suzuki SV10005. Duo took forever to pick one but repeatedly drooled over his black and silver Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa. His was defiantly the largest of them all.

All in all the day had been a blast and the Ozies were out a few thousand, well-spent dollars. Hopefully the bikes would survive more then a few missions. This was something she could get used to. The whine of another engine warned her that Heero had accelerated and was inching up on her left near the thick railing that was their only catch from a fall down the mountain.

Her own engine roared its challenge as she gave it gas. Her ears protested the noise despite the muters tucked securely in. It wasn't enough to stop her accelerating more though. She had learned that beneath his stoic soldier persona Heero had a very deep competitive streak. They all did really. Heero rarely showed it, but if provoked… she held her breath. Ah there it was. His bike roared back, and he whipped passed her. The mansion was hours away yet, and they weren't carrying anything compromising. Their guns were actually registered thanks to Heero's hacking. Therefore, now would be the perfect time to hold an impromptu race, and she would not be beaten without a decent fight.

Idlely she wondered for a brief moment how much of this new playfulness of hers was Duo's influence or the freedom of being out from under her family's heavy foot. Who cared? It was fun. Solaris shifted gears and the bike zipped forward to take the inside of the mountain turn and pass Heero. She gained several nasty little mutters over the headset for that.

"Yah, yah eat my fumes," she sent back. Now that one she'd defiantly picked up from her braided brother.

The steep, windy roads between the two and their target became subject to many rubber scars before they ended their race with Heero as the undeclared winner. He was a mere bike length ahead when they passed the speed limit sign for the small town where Kyo lived on the outskirts. It wouldn't do any good to attract negative attention so close. They had the Sat scan of the house, but little knowledge of the security. They would spend what was left of tonight studying the place.

Mountainsides were generally quite useful for espionage, but Kyo seemed to be quite paranoid. The full mile around the man's mansion was completely clear. No cover whatsoever. They were currently sprawled flat on a ridge up the mountain from the mansion. Far up the mountain. Thankfully, Heero had come prepared and his binoculars sighted in on the place easily.

"Cameras."

"How many?"

"Thirteen, hn, fourteen."

"Anything else?"

"Lasers."

"You can tell that from here?"

"…hn I have a setting on these to see them."

"And?"

The soldier just passed her the binoculars. With a sigh, she pressed them against her eyes and peered down at the valley. The last quarter mile around the house was crisscrossed with red beams.

"That's worse then the Royal Bank!"

"Hn. We are going to have to blast our way in."

"But that will give him time to wipe the mainframe."

Heero rubbed his eyes and rolled onto his back. "We can't get through those. I don't think even Trowa could."

"Maybe you can't and maybe he can't, but I can," she declared. "Trowa is too tall to flex around them all. I am not tall, and I'm just as flexible if not more. Something I can thank my family for. So, what we need to do is figure out how I'm going to shut the lasers off without getting spotted by the cameras."

"I'll shoot them."

Solaris eyes him speculatively and decided that yes he would shoot them. "When should we move?"

"Tomorrow night. We can sleep through the day."

"Right."

They retreated into a grove under the thick pine trees and slept as the day rose and passed leaving the night to fall around them.

TBC

Really, really sorry for the wait! Beta Yaris has been holding out on me for work or something. Please excuse any mistakes on the chpt. I decided to go ahead and post while I wait for him to cough up his excuses. Am not looking for a new beta yet!!

Okay I have poll up on my page if you want to check it out. -


	40. Chapter 40

Hello all! I am glad to see some of you still reading! I know it has grown to be a long fic, and will be longer still. I hope you stick with me.

It is not betad! Yaris has a pretty full plate, so he doesn't have much time to work on the chpts. Now I don't think my grammer is terrible even if I make the occasional mistake, so for now I am just going to post the chpts unbetad.

HSHSHS

Unable to sleep for more than a couple of hours, Solaris watched the house. Occasionally their target passed a window. He lived completely alone as far as she could tell. Around two o'clock he altered the lasers field so that there was a free zone, creating a small yard where he plopped down a lawn chair. She dialed the binoculars in further curious only to find that the man's idea of afternoon leisure was to read a dry tome of physics. Boring.

The sun warmed her into a light doze for a few more hours. A nightmare threatened on the edge of her dreams before Heero woke up and dug out protein bars. She caught one when he tried to catch her unawares by winging it at the back of her head.

"Hn."

She assumed he was trying to convey disappointment having failed to hit her, or perhaps it was amusement in the mere act, or it was just a meaningless hn. Only Duo could tell these things.

Night fell quickly in the mountains. By the time, the two reached the base of the mountain it was inky black out the only light that of the far off stars and colonies. The moon chose not to make an appearance yet.

She stretched to loosen up her muscles. She would need every bit of flexibility she possessed to get through the field without triggering the alarm, and sending the man within into a panic room. Heero drew two grenade type balls from his pack.

"These will show the lasers. Can't get through all that holding binoculars to your face."

"Yes that is true. I figured you had infrared goggles."

"Got broke three missions ago haven't found any good ones yet."

She snickered, trust Heero to have all the useful gadgets even the common ones.

Using the binoculars to aim he rolled the black balls beneath the lasers. One nearly three quarters of the way to he target. A detonator laid waiting on the ground at his feet. "I will set them off when you are ready the smoke will last about ten minutes before dissipating."

Solaris quirked an eyebrow. "I guess I will have to move quickly. That is a half mile of lasers."

Heero nodded curtly, "Hai." His large rifle unfolded snapping into place.

"Will you be able to see through the smoke?"

"Hai."

"Right then. Whenever you are ready I am."

Heero smoothly loaded the chamber with a handful of bullets. "The cameras only cover the last half of the field."

Solaris nodded missing the free weight of her braid down her back. For this intricate dance, she had pinned it all up in a secure bun. Nothing hung loose on her slender form. The pilot behind her pressed the first button on his detonator. Immediately a stranger multicolor mist issued from the black ball closest to the two. It swept and billowed out in a large radius exposing the red lasers. Control loosened its hold down to forty percent to allow her the extra reflexes, and she moved into the insubstantial web at a run.

The first of the beams were spaced so she could flip or duck them quickly, but soon she was forced to slow and twist carefully to get around them. The mist was fading now. She was not in the radius of the other ball yet. Moving faster she tried to make up the ground, but the beams were tricky and required slow caution. So many times she got through by mere fractions were the slightest twitch the wrong way would set the alarms blaring. The beams were fading and she was several crisscrossed yards from were the fresh, misty smoke would reach.

"K'so."

She wasn't going to make it. Instead, she found a place where she could stop and studied the lasers blocker her way. She would have to do it by memory and Heero. "01."

"Copy."

"I'm going to need you the guide me into range of the smoke."

"Roger that. Shooting out the camera now."

"Copy."

She loosened her muscles as much as she could straddling the beams careful to keep her head tilted to avoid a beam growing fainter by her ear. A faint crack announced the passage of the bullets and seconds later, she heard the lenses of the camera shatter. While she could still see, she moved through the beams step by step and twist. The smoke was gone. Her path was marked clearly in mind an arc backward here a roll next.

"Hold," Heero snapped.

She froze. One leg stretched high behind her as she balanced on one leg and hand. The other arm angled ahead of her reaching for a handstand.

"Lift you leg up and right inch and a half."

She did so and was cleared to keep moving. Again and again, her teammate corrected her movements by mere fractions. The strain of passing the lasers through memory and Heero's guidance wore on her. Every moment she expected to hear the alarms.

"06, you are now within range."

Solaris almost went limp with relief, but snarled and held her pose while multicolored smoke once more illuminated her path. She was free to go without guidance.

Heero lay down his binoculars and picked up the heavy sniper rifle. 06 was nearly to the other cameras' sight. He moved sideways until he could hit the cameras without threat of shooting the girl approaching the house steadily. With a crack and shudder of the rifle, a camera died and he moved onto the next one. Four minutes later and all the cameras on this side of the mansion were shattered, and 06 almost to the main laser. He watched her liquid motions as she flowed under and over the beams. Trowa couldn't move like that, but then the female assassin had been trained to from birth. Trowa was a mercenary for the first several years of his life, the flexibility he had was, while natural, completely untrained.

Out of the corner of his eye, Heero watched Solaris cross the last of the field while he broke down his rifle before returning it to the case. Despite being a female, she had proved herself a worthy member of the team. A sister and four brothers. Funny. He was once an only child and now he had five siblings.

06's voice murmured from the radio in his ear, "Mission stage one: complete."

The lasers were disabled. Heero hoisted his pack up and lope across the valley field in a matter of a minute. It had taken Solaris twenty-eight minutes to cross. Now to actually get inside the house of a paranoid, wealthy, military man.

TBC

Mission is well begun. PLEASE REVIEW!! So I have an idea of how many are still reading with me!! - If you haven't already check out the poll on my profile. Will leave it up until OCT.


	41. Chapter 41

Thanks for all the reviews

Thanks for all the reviews!! I didn't realize I had quite that many people reading!

Okay yes I know it is late, this time it is fully my fault I have been vveerryy busy. My Grandpa had to have a pacemaker put in to keep his heart working, and so we have to help them get firewood and stuff around their place; because he isn't allowed to lift more than ten lbs or risk pulling out the wires/tubes in his heart. AND we got a foster kid. While she is, good and we love her she does take up some time. Plus it means my Mum stays home which messes up my former weekend schedule. Then there are the puppies and the usual work plus a little extra!

HSHSHSHS

Heero dribbled a thin line of corrosive acid across the metal cover shielding the key pad. Quickly he capped the airtight vial and made sure it was clean before tucking it away. The cover pried away easy from its weakened seams. He stripped the wires and clipped the decoder in place before setting it to work. Seconds later, it beeped softy and they were in the house.

Heero slipped in his gun, leading, followed by 06. She carried her chain sword looped in her gloved hand, ready to snap out, and a pistol in her left hand. Strains of Mozart filled the mansion. Solaris winced and pressed a small button on her muters to up their strength. 

"The guy must be deaf by now," she muttered. Heero gave a curt nod. She rolled her eyes and resolved to aid Duo in helping the soldier loosen up. Not that she didn't have enough on her plate with Wufei Chang. Thankfully, Quatre seemed to lighten up Trowa easily enough, so he was covered.

Her claws scraped over the metal of her pistol, tracing over dozens of previous, similar scratches. The engineered claws were tipped with her favored nightshade poison. After they got what they needed the man would be taking a very long nap. The never-ending kind. Control gave an unpleasant buzz and balanced the chemicals in her system once again.

The mansion was eerily still despite the classical music echoing through speakers in each room. So far, they had found five empty bedrooms, four storage/junk rooms, a massive library, a conservatory, and a sitting room. The two assassins had just entered the dining room when the door on the opposite side swung open and their target stepped through a sandwich poised to enter his gaping mouth. The man looked up, dropped his sandwich on the plate, the bread and sliced meats promptly falling apart.

"How? Who? Oh shi…" the man spun and tried to dart into the kitchen. They both picked a leg and shot him. Kyo screamed and fell to the floor before trying to crawl pitifully away. Heero grimaced and stepped over the crimson trail left behind and grabbed the pathetic man's wrist to drag him to a chair.

Solaris helpfully supplies the zip ties with which to secure the X 90 engineer. "I'll go find the computer room."

"Hn."

It wasn't really all that hard to find. The computers were all humming peacefully in a cooled room. The fourth room she'd checked since the kitchen. Overall, except for the lasers, this was an easy mission. Tapping her comm., she alerted Heero to the location of the computers and resumed exploration of the house.

The panic room sat securely in the center of the mansion. Nothing short of a large bomb would penetrate it. She nosed around in it for quite a while but found nothing of real interest. Sighing, she moved for the basement, and was confronted with normal basement clutter and one gleaming elevator.

"01, found an elevator in the basement, 'am checking it out."

"Roger." She heard a clacking background noise over Heero's comm. and figured he had finished with the man, and was occupied with hacking the computers.

There wasn't even a keypad on the elevator, just the normal down button. She supposed that nobody figured anyone could get this far. Despite its gleaming, the elevator did not appear to have been used in some time. A fact proved when it squealed loudly upon its first move.

The door slid open and she stepped out to find a door and, curse her luck, a keypad. Wrinkling her nose, she set to hacking it. After a full two minutes longer than it had taken Heero for the front door, she was in. The steel door opened with oiled hinges. The last ones down here must have coated it thoroughly. Beyond, in the sealed room, laid lighted shelves of weapons. Different grenades filled one long row, while pistols filled two. There were at least five different types of rocket launchers.

Heero had to know about this! "Uh, 01?"

"06?"

"There is a rather generous weapon bunker down here. Might be able to stock up on a few things."

"Roger. ETA: Five minutes."

"Over and out."

It was five minutes nearly to the second when her teammate made his slightly bloody appearance, she'd timed it.

"How much do you think we can take?"

"Hn."

She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "If we fill both our packs we should be able to take at least all of the grenades and the best of the pistols. Plus if we do it right, we might be able to use the tarps for a few of the bigger things.

In the end, they did just that and took two rocket launchers plus all the ammo compatible to their team's weapons of choice. An automatic machine gun or two might have found their way in as well, and possibly a sniper. Their bikes were much heavier than they were when they had first arrived.

No more racing for them this time.

TBC

Well here we are. - Another chpt!


	42. Chapter 42

Hey my Faithful readers! Sorry for the delay. Mostly my fault again, but Yaris hasn't been able to get to his comp.

Oh and I switched polls on my Profile.

HDQRWS

The data gathered from Kyo's mansion all pointed to a cadet-training base as the location for the X90's production. It was decided between the team that Wufei and Solaris would once again join as siblings while Trowa came in separately. 05 and 06 would search for information as much as they could, but their main mission was to draw attention away from Trowa. The team spent one last day together in the sun before their separate missions were to be executed.

The day for the cadet, training arrived. Solaris pinned her hair back in a severe bun to reduce the likely hood of having to cut it. She wasn't sure she'd go through with it if it came to that. Upon arrive to the base the two of them were herded into line with the other trainees. Trowa was already there having left early this morning.

The cadets were told to stand in line at attention, and left alone in the hanger. The minutes passed into an hour and onward. Many grew tired and relaxed their stance. Three or four even sprawled on the floor with snide smirks at those still standing.

That changed quickly when the instructor stormed in to the room snarling, "You lazy miscreants. You on the floor get out! I will not have such insolence in my cadets!"

Solaris stood at full attention perfectly happy not to be one of the idiots now edging for the door. Wufei beside her muttered several unpleasant things about incompetent children that left her forcing down a smirk. It would not do to draw the man's attention now. The two of them would wait until they were accepted fully into the cadets before drawing the attention of their superiors.

All of the cadets bunked together male or female. Their superiors figured that it would draw out the weak or stupid ones. Solaris claimed a top bunk in the middle with Wufei directly beneath. Trowa had one in the far corner. With a sneer at the leering men, she addressed her 'brother'. "Such very nice accommodations. Better than the last place hmm?"

Wufei scowled. "Not really. Neither was very pleasant. I would rather be home with our brothers."

"Yes as would I."

For most of the cadets, the training regime the came in the days that followed was a grueling hell. Trowa was careful to keep himself among the best, but not the best. Wufei and Solaris competed for the top rank none of the other cadets coming close.

Over the first few days, they acted with the utmost obedience and precision. By day four, the instructors claimed them as their best, and the two were free to step outside the bounds on occasion and get away with it. Such as snooping down halls, they weren't supposed to. Not that they tried to be caught but it happened just enough for the others to watch them closely, but they stayed top of the class no matter what was thrown at them. Even when the other cadets were turned against them. Mission draw attention from Trowa accomplished.

Solaris crouch stretching out a long leg to the side. "Well, here goes. Either tonight we get rid of the X90's, and all go home, or we get caught, leaving it up to Trowa. Because there is no way, we are getting out of that area without blowing up something. Machine or cover."

They were dressed in their normal clothes, having shunned the cadet uniform. Solaris' braid tumbled unrestrained down her back, razor wire just barely visible to a careful observer. Wufei had not been able to sneak his sword inside the base. With an aggrieved sigh, he snapped a full clip into his pistol and slung the borrowed AK over his shoulder.

"The drop shaft on the plans should be here near the generators. I'm leaving the blueprints for Trowa since we've marked off everywhere we've tried." The blueprints had been a pain to get a hold of, but with some time spent hacking into the base's mainframe they had located an old set transferring the data to a disk.

"Hn."

"Now you are starting to sound like Heero, Wufei."

A scowl was her only answer. She poked her tongue out, earning herself a sneer.

"Are we ready?"

"Hai."

The two strode down several of the corridors unimpeded, offering salutes to anyone, they encountered. It was well known that they were teacher's pets, and so allowed nearly everywhere.

The generator room was four floors below the surface, on the third they climbed into the air vents. Fourth floor had a high security clearance, one they didn't have. Really, one would think Oz would learn not to build such large vents. It'd save them a lot of bases probably. Of course, they likely figured that since a full-grown man could not fit through the metal tunnels that no one could. To bad for them.

The going was a bit slow considering they had to be careful not to scrap their weapons against the metal tunnels. On the forth floor they were forced to take to the halls again as the vent system for the X90's hangers was separate. They were going to climb down the elevator shaft. Not the safest place to be, but since when was anything they ever did safe?

The climb down the shaft was long and dirty. Apparently cleaning was not a priority.

Wufei snickered softly, "You've got dirt on your nose, onna."

Going down the other ladder Solaris snorted, "You, Fei fei, look like a raccoon." 05 wrinkled his nose and kept climbing. If they could do this without getting caught their lives would be much simpler. Of course, if they didn't chances are Oz would think they were safe having caught the infiltrators.

At the end of their climb, they took once more to the vents until they got to the hanger. A hanger filled solely with Mobil dolls.

"Kuso." She wanted to go on with the curses, but sounds echoed in here it wasn't worth being caught.

She indicated the explosives. If they were here they might as well blown it up. What a waste of time though, seriously, Mobil dolls. There were barely enough stored here to give her a workout in Nightshade. Come to think of it, they weren't hardly worth the explosives. Certainly not worth all this risk for getting caught. Being caught wasn't fun.

Wufei shrugged and they dropped from the vents onto the walkway. The explosive would only take out this hanger. The building above would shake a bit, but nothing serious. They split up and spread out the devises Duo had supplied them with.

They met and she signed, 'Let's go.'

'Roger.'

Back at the elevator shaft, they dropped into the hall.

'Someone's coming.'

Soldiers' boots clumped down the hall behind them. They had to get into the elevator and up in the shaft. To late for the vents. Wufei jabbed the button waiting for the doors to hiss open. When they did, he darted forward only to be jerked back by the collar of his shirt and down the left hall just as bullets hit the floor at his feet. A troop of soldiers piled out of the lift.

TBC!!!!

AH!!! Don't shoot me! For the sake of getting this posted I'm ending it here. Once again, I am sorry for the delay, I had a hard time writing this one, but I think I've got it back on track.


	43. Chapter 43

Well since I took so long in getting out the last chpt, I decided to try and type out another right away.

CWST maybe TB

Wufei gagged as his collar dug forcefully into his throat when Solaris jerked him out of immediate firing range. He peppered the hall with bullets from his borrowed AK, taking out several of the soldiers. The others took cover back in the elevator or around the corner where the soldiers they had been fleeing from would soon join them.

Solaris released him and added her own pistol to the fire picking her shots carefully wounding or killing with each pull of the trigger. What to do? The only way to the surface was that shaft, and by now, they had to have called for back up. The two of them were good, but could only do so much with limited ammo. Two options: get captured or blow the level.

She brandished the detonator. Wufei saw and gave his nod of agreement. Neither was willing to be caught. Better to die in honorable combat and hope that the others would win this without them.

A bullet clipped her side. Pain blossomed along with the blood darkening her shirt. She pressed the innocuous grey button. The explosion started with a slow rumble that turned into a furious roar as one by one the other devises went off.

The floor splintered under their feet and flames engulfed the hall where the soldiers were barricaded. Wufei whirled around and they both tore down the hall. Self-preservation kicked in, making them at least try to escape the fiery death. Beside hadn't she promised Duo that they were strong enough to survive?

Heat scorched their heels. She could smell her hair singeing. Wufei kicked a door in and they went in, slamming the door shut just as the flames overtook them. The heavy metal door shielded them, but burned Solaris who was leaning against it. She jerked away with a sharp cry.

Wufei gave her a concerned look, but she shook it off, careful not to let him see that her gloves were fused with her skin. Leather was not supposed to do that but she guessed enough heat could melt the leather, or perhaps it was her skin that melted into the leather. Not that it mattered. The explosions would likely take out the fuel tanks soon.

Wufei had brought them into a shower room. Solid cement block walls separated the stalls. They curled into the corner of the furthest stall. There was nowhere else to go. The tremors from the explosion would have alerted Trowa that the mission was complete. To bad, they could not alert him to the fact that it was not X90s blowing to itty-bitty pieces.

One final roar announced the destruction of the Mobil dolls' fuel tanks. Wufei abruptly dropped an arm over her shoulders and pulled her close to his side. After a brief moment where she just about killed him a literal few times over, she sighed and leaned into the embrace. The last thing she knew was a soft kiss to the temple, heat, pain, and darkness.

(Wow, I so wanted to leave it here. Would have been a bit short even for me though.)

Pain reverberated through his very bones. Wufei moaned and struggled to move. Crushing weight held him down, but he was a Gundam pilot. With supreme effort, he opened his eyes and surveyed their situation. The cement block wall was shattered and black leaning over them in a confining cave. Water from the broken showerhead soaked them. Solaris lay curled over his legs. It looked like the wall had her legs pinned.

He squirmed out from under her and through the small gap left in the crumpled wall. He hurt. Everywhere. His skin felt raw. Probably burnt. After moving a few blocks, he leaned back into the gap and hoisted a limp Solaris out. Blood oozed down her temple. Wufei hoped she did not have a concussion. That was spoiled quickly as the girl in his arms whimpered and opened her eyes to reveal two very different sized pupils.

"Fei, there are two of you," she muttered matter-of-factly.

"Yes I suppose there are onna." He sighed, "as we seem to still be alive somehow, we need to get out of here. Can you walk?"

"Help me up." Her eyes were very dark.

"Is Control suppressing you?"

"The pain only. I can fight. I think." Her voice was breathy and weak, but once on her feet she stood alone and solidly. "The chances of making it out of here are slim."

"Possibly. We are Pilots. We must try."

"Of course." She offered him a dark smile.

She waited while Wufei wrestled the-now cool-wretched door open. It was all quiet. "Shouldn't there be a hanger door?"

Wufei froze then thunked his head into the wall. "We should have stolen a couple of Dolls. The protocol can be overridden so a human can fly it."

"Too late now. It's not as if we could have known we had soldiers coming from both directions. Which way should we go? Shaft or hanger?"

"There's going to be soldiers swarming everywhere up there. The hanger doors might lead into the forest."

"Hanger then. By now they will have noticed our absence so no blending into the crowd."

There were no personnel storming the halls of the underground levels. As they passed the elevator, they saw why. The lift was a crumpled, blackened heap at the bottom of the shaft.

"They don't think anyone could still be alive down here." She murmured, an arm wrapped around bruised ribs, ignoring the searing pain the pressure caused in her seared hand.

"There shouldn't be. We got lucky." Wufei limped more then she did probably from kicking a metal door in. Her leg was likely purple from the blocks falling on it, but that was the least of her injuries.

Discretely she eyed her teammate cataloging the injuries he hid unsuccessfully: badly sprained or fractured foot, swelling, broken wrist, singed skin. Several nasty gashes from flying debris bled sluggishly. The way he moved, his ribs were messed up too. What a fine pair they made.

Fires still flickered on what wooden fuel it could find causing the air to be hazy with heat and smoke. Solaris stifled the urged to cough her lungs out. The pistol in her hand got heavier by the minute. She wasn't sure she could hit anything if it can to a firefight, what with the double vision confusing her eyes.

The metal balcony was twisted and torn from the explosion and little remained of the Dolls on the hanger floor. They were going to have to get down the hard way. On the other hand, the explosion had bent the hanger doors open. Once on the floor it would be a clear shot into the forest.

Using what little remained of the stairs they got as close to the floor as possible before dropping off. She grunted at the impact, rolling with the force. Wufei landed behind her letting out a barked cry. She frowned as he favored his right leg, hoping it wasn't broken.

Along with a couple of metal shards, she used her shirt to make a splint. It would have to do. Staying close to his side, Solaris watched him to catch him if his ankle would not hold. Slowly they moved for the doors.

A breeze from outside helped them breath easier and move eagerly for freedom. The rumble of trucks froze them in their tracks. Soldiers. Approaching the hanger doors. Wufei looked around frantically. There was nothing and nowhere left to hide. They were trapped.

Solaris crept to the doors and peeked out. By the slight paling of her skin under the ash, he knew it was beyond their power to escape. There was determined fear in her eyes when she looked up at him.

He nodded. They would just have to go down fighting to the last bullet.

TBC

I think this might be a good spot to leave it! ^-^ Don't you all agree?


	44. Chapter 44

Well, this update is a little faster no?

WCST

They checked their guns. There was little ammo left. Solaris still wore her sword belt, but it would do little good against the armed soldiers spread out around the doors.

Their brothers would fight on without them crushing Oz, and any who threatened the peace. They could go, knowing that the people were well protected.

With a soft glance and brief brush of fingers, the partners rushed out the gap in the twisted, metal doors. Targets dropping as soon as they were sighted, with fatal shots. The two turned together like one covering each other, ducking and weaving as though their bodies bore no injury.

As her guns chamber clicked empty, she pulled her three-inch needles throwing them to the best of her abilities. All of the black needles flew out no matter the substance they carried, whether it be an immediate poison, a slow creeping death, or a sedative. Even the few dipped in truth serum found soldier's fragile, exposed skin.

Wufei tossed aside the AK and drew his pistol. They had killed fifteen at least, but there was still a solid ring of soldiers. His pistol fell empty to the ground even as Solaris unclipped her last weapon from her waist. In a last ditch effort the partners drove themselves toward the soldiers separating them from the forest cover.

Ignoring the damage, he knew he was causing to his broken leg, Wufei lashed out viciously with a foot, before ducking a whistling swing of Solaris sword. The soldiers could not fire upon them for fear of hitting their own people. They nearly made it to freedom of the forest where they could lose all pursuit within minutes.

That hope died with a sharp buzzing followed by the thud of a limp body. Wufei spun to find his partner felled with the wires of a stun gun still attached to her back and neck. His last clear though before electricity jolted through him, was who in hell brought a stunner to a firefight.

Darkness clouded his vision.

The first thing she knew as awareness returned was that her shoulders were killing her. The second was the water dripping an annoying rhythm on her head. The next was the reason her shoulders hurt. Manacles trapped her wrists chained above her head, so her bare feet could not touch the floor. Her left shoulder was on the verge of dislocation.

Her vision swam dangerously as she opened her eyes, but she fought it and focused on where she was. The grimy cell had water dripping in several places. The windows were mere slits in the wall. The door was a heavy metal piece with slats cut in for air and light.

Wufei hung unconscious directly across from her. He looked little better than she felt.

Control was staticing weakly in the back of her head. It needed time to reboot. They had shocked her to take her down. Electricity and Control didn't mix well. Until AI rebooted it's system and regained control she was on her own with the mixed up hormones the genetic screwing her so-called family had caused. It would take very little provocation to send her into an animalistic fury. Silently she hoped she and her partner would be left alone until Control was in place. If she lost it, she'd just as likely kill Wufei as anyone else.

It was up to them to get out. The others did not know they had been captured. They would assume they had got free, and were undercover, or dead.

As time passed, the only sound was the discordant melody of dripping. The shock had messed up her mufflers too. Her hearing went from nearly deaf to the limits of her hearing. In the fully unprotected moments, she could hear the commotion of construction and training on the base above.

A soft moan announced Wufei's return to the awakened. After awhile his eyelids struggled open. A brief flash of relief mixed with disappointment flashed across his face when he focused on her.

She puzzled over the expressions from a moment before her mercurial moods shrugged it off.

"How's it hanging over there?" she asked brightly a cat like grin stretching across her face. Solaris laughed cheerfully at the disgruntled look on her partner's face. "We are like a bunch of bananas!"

"Get serious, you sound like Duo on sugar," Wufei snapped.

Her lip started to sag outward while tears pooled in her eyes. "I'm sorry! But everything hurts and I'm getting wet, and my hearing keeps changing!" Her voice rose to a near wail as Wufei stared incredulously.

"Get a hold of yourself 06!" he finally snarled unable to handle the sobs.

Her mood shifted abruptly all over again. "Well you don't have to be such an uptight snot about it." She sniffed disdainfully. "I mean really. You can be so rude."

He studied her thoughtfully, she had a concussion, but one of those had never had this effect on her before. A drug maybe? However, she had said the Control neutralized most drugs in her system. He wished he could see the color of her eyes, but the lighting was to dim Wait…

"06, status on Control."

She stiffened in her chains as though coming to attention. "Control is in process of rebooting. Approximate time until completion, five hours."

She hadn't been kidding when she'd said Control kept her stable. Problem was, he had no idea what to do about it.

Three hours later, Solaris cocked her head listening. Footsteps tramped down the hall.

After several electronic beeps of a keypad, which both pilots memorized immediately heavy bolts grated open, and the door swung aside. Two bulky soldiers trooped through with leers twisting their face.

One had a bulbous nose. "Ah, I see our prisoners are awake. Maybe we should loosen them up for questioning."

Once more in soldier mode, Solaris offered a nasty sneer. "Even think about touching me I'll snap your necks."

"Really now little girl. How ya gonna do that? You're strung up like a pig to slaughter."

She hissed like an angry cat. "Just try me."

The plain face Ozzie cracked his knuckles and stood before Wufei like a boxer before a punching bag. "Think you can handle the girl, Goyle?"

"Anytime." The soldier wiped his bulbous nose on his sleeve. Reaching out he slapped her.

Solaris struggled to hold on to her humanity. It wasn't working. The man kept slapping her with each taunt, and Wufei was stoically taking blow after blow. The manacles clamped over three inches of her wrists leaving her hands free to grasp the chains that suspended her. Her hands were nearly numb, which considering the condition they had been in before, could only be a bad thing. Still, she felt the cold chain links beneath her fingers and hoisted her whole body up wrapping her legs around the soldier's neck.

With a snarl of fury, she rolled bringing the man's head with her. His spine pulled then snapped with a wet, grinding crack.

Wufei was unable to do the same maneuver as Solaris with his broken leg, but he managed to stall the dull man. His partner's eyes gleamed an eerie, pale gold, even in the shadows. He knew she had lost complete control and was operating on the baser instincts. He could only hope she would still sense him as pack.

Using the time Wufei gave her, Solaris strained herself upwards until she could wrap her feet around the chains. There, inverted above the damp stone floor she pulled a pick out of her braid and worked at the locks that bound her.

The final soldier tore free from Wufei's confinement and grabbed her hair to pull her down. Jerking viscously, he screamed and stumbled back staring at the gaping wounds slashed across his hands from the wire woven into her hair. Blood pooled in his palms and streamed to the floor.

Wristed freed Solaris flipped down to the floor landing in a crouch. Lounging she unsheathed her poison-tipped claws and slashed at his throat. The wound was not deep enough to open the artery, but the nightshade would enter his bloodstream quickly. Not that he would ever know it as Solaris spun and slammed a bare heel into the back of his neck. A soft crunch issued and the soldier sank to the floor beside the bulbous nosed Goyle.

Wufei hung completely still keeping his breathing steady and calm while Solaris eyed him ferelly. After long fearful minutes, the gold in her eyes darkened slightly, and she unpicked his locks.

He was bare foot as well and the cold sent a shiver up his spine. She made no move to help him, padding predatorily to the unclosed door to their cell. Wufei limped along, careful to stay with in his partner's sight, as she would kill him if he startled her.

She moved like a hunting animal crouching close to the ground almost, but not quite, on all fours.

Past the row of empty cell, in the outer room, they found their shoes and the other small things they had hidden in their clothes. Wufei quickly tucked the small explosives back into place, and grabbed up the other stuff to hurry after Solaris, who was already booted and moving, her sword dangling lightly from her hand.

Stalking through the halls, Solaris killed anyone they came across with quiet ferocity.

The garage was nearly devoid of people. One unfortunate mechanic died with a chain sword wound deep into his throat. Wufei hotwired bike, scooting silently back on the seat for Solaris to drive.

It galled him to be so weak even in front of his teammate, but there was no way he could shift gears now. Before climbing on the bike, she handed him a grenade gun. He would get the gates and pursuers.

The battle of escape was later blurry to both of them; actually, Solaris hardly remembered anything beyond a few flashes of blood and fire. All she knew was that somehow, even with a concussion, she had driven them off the base losing all pursuers that survived the grenades skillfully wielded by Wufei. Wufei had guided them to a safe house and they had collapsed there for the better part of two days before he had radioed the others. Trowa came with a truck and brought them to a safe house to heal. That had been a mere day ago.

TBC

FIVE PAGES… Well four really. : P I'm only a few sentences onto the fifth. Still it's more than usual.


	45. Chapter 45

The safe house brimmed with tense energy as the six pilots worried over the true location of the X90s that could win the war for Oz. Wufei and Solaris had just delivered their reports on the mission after eighteen straight hours of sleep.

Solaris eyes were black with Control going full strength trying to repair the damage done. They were both confined to bed until Quatre said otherwise.

The others were settled around the double-bedded room; Heero at the desk already typing steadily into his laptop, Trowa leaned against the wall by the door in his normal fashion.

Duo sat cross-legged on Solaris' bed while Quatre fussed with the teapot.

Obviously, the female Oz agent Heero had interrogated had not broken as easily as believe. Instead, she held out just long enough before spinning a web of lies sending them down a false rabbit trail leading them to Kyo. He held an entire database of false information. Oz was finally learning. However, they were on to the deception and they would not fall for it again.

SDSDSD

Solaris stretched and instantly wished she had not as her shoulders screamed protest. Having been nearly dislocated, they were very sore.

"Ow." She hissed.

"Hey sis. You okay?" Duo pushed the door aside with his foot and entered balancing a tray on one hand.

"Fine. Just twisted my shoulders wrong."

Duo winced in understanding. "Well, here Trowa homemade from scratch…" he peeked into the cover bowl. "Tomato soup! It'll make you feel all warm and tingly and cure everything that ails you except Wu-bear's bad patient-ness!"

She snickered, "he'll be sorry when Quatre catches him." Quatre was like a mother hovering over her pups. If you didn't cooperate he'd get his grumpy little pout like a kicked puppy that made you want to grovel and do just about anything. If for some reason it didn't work, he turned all feral Rottweiler on you, chewing you into submission.

Right now, she didn't feel up to risking his wrath. Her brain felt more like a shattered brick then flesh and every muscle ached from the strain of being hung by her wrists.

Her hands were another matter entirely. It had taken Heero and Quatre to pick all the leather from her gloves from her flesh. It was a second degree burn. Thankfully, her fingers had not fused and the hyperactive healing she had would help them heal up well and quickly. Heero had pinned her down while Quatre worked. The job was made easier when she passed out a quarter of the way through the process.

Luckily numbing agents, she was not immune to unlike the morphine. As it was, she would not have the use of her hands for at least a week. Therefore, she meekly opened her mouth when Duo held up a spoonful of soup.

Solaris made it a couple of days before she demanded a shower. She got a bath. The hot water soothed and relaxed several knotted muscles. Solaris soaked a long time before she began to get weary. It was not a scrub but her hands could not get wet and none of the boys were going to do any such thing. Her hair on the other hand she accepted help for. Duo who had stayed in the adjoining room helped her with her hair carefully washing away the blood and scent of smoke into the large sink.

The week passed slowly, agonizingly with creeping improvement on her hands. Wufei was getting up and about with crouches when Quatre was around and hobbling unaided with he was not. Eating utensils were still beyond her capabitlies at the moment but sandwiches and other finger foods she could handle.

Unfortunately, a comb proved beyond her hands as well. She had mistakenly though she could comb her hair and now it was down and in a mess diving her up the wall as it got in the way of everything! Who to ask for help…

Thinking for a second, she realized that Wufei was the only other one in the house. Trowa would have left on his mission while she napped and the others had been gone for days. Well, there was no choice at all. She swore if he got snippy about helping she'd sic Duo on him, and then beat him into the dirt.

Solaris found him sprawled on the sofa reading.

"Wufei?"

"Hmm?'

She edged farther into the room feeling like a schoolgirl with a crush. This was stupid. He was her teammate. There was nothing wrong about asking for help.

"Would you help me with my hair?" she focused on the blank TV screen beyond the couch. "I thought I could do it."

Wufei looked up from his poems to see her standing there determinedly not looking at him. Obsidian hair fell freely to her knees. He hadn't realized it would be that long unbraided. She was stilling waiting for answer.

"Of course I will help. Perhaps it would be best if you sat on one of the kitchen stools."

She smiled. "Okay.

He soon found himself holding a comb while she sat backwards on a stool and crossed her arms over the back. Wufei gathered up long stands and knelt to start at the bottom. Gently he worked the comb upwards.

After a minute, she sighed and relaxed, "You are good at this."

"I used to do this for Meilen. It was the only time I could get her to sit still."

"Hmm it's nice."

When the comb ran smoothly all the way to the ends, he deftly separated the mass into three sections. It flowed like silk though his nimble hands as he braided it.

"Do you want it coiled up?"

"No it gives me a headache like that."

"Ah."

He marveled at the show of trust she showed him by relaxing beneath his hands. She hated to be touched and he could not blame her, but here she was calmly accepting his help.

TBC

Ah… this all I've got for the moment. I was going to try to write a really long one but I need to figure out how to connect the dots again. It shouldn't be hard I just need a minute without work to be done. Sorry for the long-er waits lately. If I haven't said so before. I have four new siblings! It adds an element of chaos into the house. Plus I no longer get my people free weekends. Anyway, I have three sisters and a little brother. ^_^


	46. Chapter 46

Hello!!! ^-^ I went back and read everything I have written up till now, and was very pleased with myself. It also reminded me of a few things I had planned before.

QQQQQ

Quatre was glad to relax for a while. With Wufei and Solaris out of commission for so long, the mission had been harder to complete. He was tired.

Today though, Wufei and Solaris had gone with Trowa on a simple search and destroy mission. Their injuries were not fully healed, but they had been declared acceptable. Solaris had threatened some rather nasty things when Duo mentioned she should wait a little longer before returning to the field.

He had the entire safe house to himself for now. Heero and Duo were out on a mission of their own. Quatre squirmed just a little deeper into the soft couch and keyed the light classical station to play. Time to finally finish his book.

Ranger's apprentice was an old children's book, but very interesting. Currently Will was burning the bridge. Quatre sank eagerly into the book. Time passed quite peacefully until he frantically turned to the page only to find, that yes, Will was being taken across the sea and, yes, it was the end of the book. How cruel.

Manfully resisting the urge to fling the offending thing against the wall, he coolly set it on the coffee table, and promptly dumped a large stack of mission reports on top. With a final sniff, he settled back on the couch and flicked channels until he reached the news.

There were fiery images of yet another attack on innocent civilians by Oz. He sat straight when the camera flashed to an ominous black suit, three of them to be exact. The X90s. Oz had already made more. He knew within the next day if not hours they would receive their orders to deal with the new machines.

Quatre watched with dull sadness as faces of the known dead began a continuous cycle across the bottom of the screen. So very many.

With a soft, mournful sigh, he turned to his computer and emailed Abdul to find the next book in the Ranger's apprentice series. His tea was cold.

He put a new pot of water on before grabbing a bottle of Sprite of out of the fridge. The others would probably want tea when they got home which should be soon. He needed something ready for them to eat after they were cleaned up. The fridge had only a few options. The ham on the top shelf seemed the best one.

About twenty minutes later the door opened and three weary soldiers trooped in.

"How did it go? Everyone okay?"

"Mission complete. I'm fine." Wufei stalked off for a shower in his usual gruff fashion.

Solaris unzipped her boots with a slight wince. "Hands are a little sore but nothing serious. I need to clean up a bit. Is that ham I smell? Yum."

Trowa just offered a calm smile and soundlessly vanished to his room.

Something in Quatre's chest relaxed knowing that these three were safe. The other two were fine; he knew they had reached their safe house an hour ago.

The ham was half done. By the time they cleaned up and meditated or what have you, to relax, it would be done.

The news had changed now to other broadcasts but faces still scrolled growing longer with each new cycle. Quatre let it go on. Sort of a way to pay respect.

Trowa was the first to reappear, sitting at a stool at the end of the kitchen island. Wufei was not too far behind choosing the opposite end. Quatre was just adding the instant potato flakes to the water when Solaris joined them, braiding her hair.

"Who got hit?"

"It was the X90s' they wiped out a quarter of Port City." Quatre answered. "I expect we'll be receiving more orders soon." Quatre rubbed his chest at the flash of fear from Solaris.

"I suppose we will." She picked a stool with her back to the rest, watching the faces repeating on the screen.

Quatre dumped a can of green beans into a pot. Then set to making gravy from the ham juices.

Still Solaris' eyes remained glued to the screen while her dripping braid hung in a long tail nearly to the floor. Her tea was sipped absently. Quatre frowned at her preoccupation, but turned back to his gravy before it scorched.

Pain erupted in his chest. He moaned and keeled forward. Behind him, a teacup shattered across the tile.

"Solaris?" Quatre stammered out, spinning around.

"What's wrong?" Trowa asked sharply.

They received no answer but the steady paling of her skin and bloodless lips. She was shaking from head to toe. She walked unsteadily into the other room and fumbled for the remote, pausing the feed and rewinding it while her other hand spread convulsively over her stomach.

"Solaris?" Quatre realized her lips were moving in silent supplication. 'No, no, no, please no, no, God no.' Over and over while the feed backed up.

She stopped it. Quatre studied it in a vain attempt to figure what had caused this reaction in his sister. Had she known one of these people?

The remote hit the floor with a muted thud followed by her knees. One hand stretched out to the screen grasping at nothing. Devastation writ across her face.

"No, no, no, NO, NO, NOOO!!" Her whispers rose in pitch until her voice reached a wordless, piercing, tortured scream. She curled in on herself till her head touched the floor. Choked sobs racked her slim form.

Quatre didn't know what to do. The pain enveloping her made him ill.

WWWW

Wufei noticed Solaris studying the photos on the news and furrowed his brow trying to remember if she had ever mentioned Port City. Nothing came to mind.

He watched in concern as color leeched from her skin and she started to tremble. Quickly he scanned the pictures.

Old man, onna, onna, kid, onna, girl, baby, boy with a birthmark, girl…. Wait hadn't she said??? Ice crept into his veins as Solaris stumbled away. He found himself unable to move as the feed slipped backwards.

Wufei hoped against everything he was wrong.

The feed stopped with two little children in the center. The images zoomed in. He could see the resemblance of the two. They were twin. The girl appeared average at first until you glimpsed her eyes, which were pale amber. The boy had a birthmark stamped across in a flamed pattern.

Memories flashed through his mind of a conversation atop a mountain trail. Her children. Her reason to live and fight killed by the X90s they had failed to find.

Solaris' scream of agony jolted him from his seat and he raced to her side, falling roughly to his knees. Gathering her into his arms, he rocked her through her tearing sobs. Tears stung his eyes.

"I'm sorry, so very, very sorry. We'll make them pay I swear," he hissed into her hair. "We'll destroy them."

Trowa supported a ghost like Quatre. "What is it?" 

Wufei spared only a brief glance to his confused brothers. "The twins. They are hers. Were hers. Her children."

Trowa's eyes widened. If the situation had been different, it would have been funny to see him so shaken. "Hers?"

Quatre whimpered, "Oh, Solaris!" Kneeling down he hugged her awkwardly around Wufei.

There was no room for him in the huddle, and truthfully, he did not know what to do, so Trowa returned to the kitchen clearing away the shattered porcelain. The tinkling glass sound muted in the stifling grief. He cleared away the plates and put the food into the fridge. When he could find nothing else to distract himself for the loss, he wrapped Quatre in a blanket and guided him onto the couch.

Wufei did not look to be relieving the quivering form of their sister, so he draped another around them. He started to shut off the TV then thinking it was better to let it be. It might be the only picture she had. Instead, he slumped onto the floor, back against the couch.

Together they mourned long into the night.

TBC

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! TT-TT

I know so horrible, but I have been planning this scene for a long time. Sniffles. It hurts though...


	47. Chapter 47

I don't remember if I said this in the last chpt, so I'm going to say it again. I am now working two jobs. One of which I cannot decide the hours on, so I can't say how often I will update now. They might come faster or slower. We'll just have to see.

Anyway onward we go.

Ps. I'm not planning to bring Zech's rebellion into this. The bad guys are solely Oz.

TQWS

The next day Solaris rose from her bed all sorrow burned away by absolute fury. Oz made a grave mistake in releasing their X90s for such a trivial battle. It would cost them the entire war.

As usual, Wufei meditated in the training room. She ignored the concerned glance he gave her and fell into a viscous routine of katas. Just because she had fallen asleep sobbing in his arms didn't not mean she needed to be babied. After Oz had paid perhaps she would let the grief out again, but until then, nothing would get in her way.

Wufei followed the rhythm of her battle and knew that if he sparred with her today he would lose, painfully. Nevertheless, he jumped in front of her and blocked a hard strike with his forearm. This would clear her head and calm her down so they could plan Oz's downfall. The laptops had been running searches continuously, and were, even now, tracking the X90's.

This morning Duo had called in, and Trowa had informed him and Heero of the tragedy. They were on their way back. The X90s came before all other missions.

As Wufei had predicted, Solaris beat him into the mats. He would be feeling the bruises for a few days. The slight pain was worth it though as her fury cooled and focused. She would not scorch her teammates with it anymore.

Out of the norm, Quatre was already up with a steaming cup of tea clasped in his hands. Breakfast was cooking away on the stove.

"Good morning, Wufei, Solaris."

Wufei nodded, "Quatre."

Solaris stayed quiet offering only a small nod.

"The others will be here in an hour and a half. We are narrowing in on the X90's location, so we can put together our plan of action then."

HDTQWS

The seven of them gathered in the kitchen as usual for their war meeting. The coordinates had come in. The X90s had led them to a large base in the mountains where the Doctors had been searching for Oz's HQ.

They were going to end this entire blasted war now.

The Doctors had been able to get them the basic schematics of the mountain base once the X90s showed them the exact location.

They would launch an all out assault with the Gundams, Heero's Wing Zero in the lead. His cannon would open the way directly underground, and they would demolish it.

SSSS

Through out the following days while they prepared for the assault Solaris compulsively caressed the faint scar on her stomach.

All of their Gundams were in near perfect condition. The only thing that could make them better was a solid buffing for shine. The team rested all day for the strike during pre-dawn.

Together on the hanger floor, they pilfered their entire weapons cache. Each choosing their favorites; Heero his GlockNeo and Accuracy International Sniper, Duo a black Magnum90 and Saiga shotgun, Trowa a dual set of Smiths0300s and a, Quatre carried dual Desert Eagles plus an M16. Wufei a semi-auto Colt and Carbon long rifle, Solaris, herself claimed the Howa Snipe and a set of Magnum 22s. These were their main chooses though they certainly had other weapons placed strategically.

"Lets do this!" Duo crowed.

"The Oz leaders have all been spotted by satellite entering the base," Quatre informed them.

"All the players in one place."

The six of them climbed into their Gundams with grave, predatory intent. Each keyed the startup sequence and the powerful machines growled to life. The three with flight capabilities had long since been modified and now attached to Sandrock, Heavyarms, and Nataku lifting them into the air.

The mountain base was a mere two hours flight. By dawn this was would have been won. Oh there might still be skirmishes from small pockets of soldiers, but with the head gone the snake would die.

Heero set Heavyarms down a couple of miles from the perimeter of the the base, and angled straight up disappearing from view. Nightshade dropped Nataku off before returned to the air to circle the mountain base. Duo did the same flying in an opposite circle.

A small blip of red alerted them that 01 was taking his first shot.

The pale rose horizon was ripped asunder with a streak of fire burning through the stratosphere. The side of the mountain shattered. Before the smoke fully cleared it was struck again, and again.

By now Oz certainly knew they were there, knocking on their door.

Hanger doors opened their maw to release a slew of dolls, and three shadowed X90s.

The Dolls spread out amass e while the X90s took points around the the base, not yet spotting the attacking Gundams.

Heero's final shot blasted though the base's exterior. They had their opening. Duo went straight for it, stealth yet engaged.

Solaris waited while Wufei provided a distraction taking the first shot into the mass of dolls drawing more the half his and Quatre's way. Her own stealth was still on full power as she drew her sword. She came to hover directly behind an X90. All in one smooth moment she activated the sword's power and drove it down through the back of it's neck and out the metallic stomach. She keyed the sword's separation into a chain and the lasor powered weapon ripped it's way back out tearing the black machine apart. She would be taking no chances with the X90s. All would be dealt with in merciless hatred.

With the power diverted to the sword her stealth flickered away and immediately twenty dolls and the nearest X90 swiveled towards her.

"Bring it on."

The Mobil Dolls attacked with a hive mind ferociousness. The machines had their programed formations and would not deviate. She readied herself and waited for the first strike.

Five Dolls flew straight for her while one came from below and another above. She curled her black wings inward and took the opening fire, letting the dolls draw close. Solaris whipped the controls so the Gundanium wings lashed out knocking several dolls back, slicing through the torso of one.

A sharp jab downward took out the one from below.

Kicking out, she took off the head of a Doll in a move that would not work on the ground. The one dropping in from above fell straight onto her claws exploding into the others. The blast shook Nightshade a bit doing only minor damage.

All the other Dolls succumbed with similar ease. The second X90 decided to engage as the molten rain of debris yet fell like the last stars of night.

Solaris barely managed to dodge the laser charge. The machine rushed her it's lance leading. Her boosters took her up over the attack and she kicked it in the head. Unfortunately it wasn't as weak as a Doll and latched onto Nightshade's ankle with it's free hand, and spinning, flung her away like a rag doll.

She was not going to be able to pull up in time. Solaris was able the flip over and hit the ground with Nightshade braced in a crouch feet and a Gundanium hand digging deep furrowing in the mountain.

Sneak attacks apparently worked much easier than full on confrontation.

She recoiled backwards just in time as another laser charge scorched the earth were she had been.

Again she curse not having any guns. Honestly anything that could reach father that her sword would have been nice.

With a surge from the boosters she made it back into the air. To her left explosions rent the air. The others were wrecking havoc among the other Oz machines.

The X90 made to slash her with its lance. Solaris caught it with the chain sword and sent full power to the blade. The added power had the sword melting through the lance like butter. It fell to pieces. It fired the laser at her again. She dodged sideways, wincing with the jar against the shoulder harness.

The sword coiled around the X90 pulling it in close where black claws could slam into and through the X90. With a final spark of electricity it went limp. To be completely sure she called her sword into it's normal form and sent it slicing though. The resulting explosion flung her back into the earth.

TBC

Okay first... I AM SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT!!!! I said at the beginning of this chpt that I had a new job. Still true... wrote that about two weeks/three ago. I just have been so busy. (Slumps over desk) And now it's nearly 1am and I have a cold so I'm going to bed. This is not beta'd I figured I would just get it straight to you.


	48. Chapter 48

Okay... I could give a whole bunch of the same old excuses, but... they are the same old excuses so whys should I??? I am however, sorry for the wait.

2nd try…. Now I have a few new excuses as the above was written months ago. The best one??? I flipped my truck over. Uhuh yes, my truck rolled around in the ditch. Not the most pleasant of experiences. I did, however, walk away relatively unscathed. I've also been sick twice. Bleh. Other than that I've just plain been busy.

I've had a very hard time writing out any of this scene including the previeous chpts, so I am getting out of it on the 2nd page of the chpt. I am working to draw this fic to a close as I've done most of what I wanted to. It's not over yet though!

SSS

(Last time)

The X90 lashed out viciously with the lance. Her sword wrapped around it glowing with full power running over it. . The X90 fired the laser again. She dodged sideways, wincing at the jarring against her shoulder harness.

Her sword coiled around the X90, pulling it in close where black claws could slam into and pierce through the X90. With a final spark of electricity it went limp. To be completely sure, she called her sword into it's solid form and sent it slicing though. The resulting explosion flung her back into the earth.

(Now)

A crater formed beneath Nightshade's crushing weight. Solaris gasped for breath. Nightshade's display lights blinked warningly from the strain. Tweaking the power output she used the stressed wings to raise the Gundam back to its feet.

No enemies threatened her vicinity. Flares of light, bright in the pre-dawn sky, told Solaris that the boys were cleaning up the other Dolls.

There was one more X90 to be destroyed.

DDDD

Duo whooped as he tucked Deathscyth's black wings in tight, spinning through the maze of air ducts and wires that strung through the hollow inside of the mountain. Below, he could see the bunker that housed their targets, the leaders of this war. The ones who started all this pain.

Landing on top of the metal box, it was so easy to slice through the steel with his scythe's poisonous green blade. The metal glowed in the heart of the mountain with red fury. He imagined that the men within screamed as the molten steel oozed down upon them.

Duo reversed the angle of the phase energy so it formed a spear. A solid stab straight through the bunker reached the fuel cells buried below. Low rumbling announced the fiery explosion before fire erupted around his feet.

"Time to go!" he whooped and made Deathscythe's engines roar.

The flames licked at his heels as he began the ascent to the gaping wound in the mountain Heero's Wing had created. By the time he blasted free of the mountain fire had enveloped him in a blazing shroud. Like an advancing demon, Duo tore straight through the hoard of dolls surrounding Heero.

"Hey buddy, you can't hog all the fun!" He hollered across the comm.

"Hn. Baka." Heero's reply was short. Not that Duo expected otherwise. Heero was just trying to pretend he wasn't sitting over there in Wing laughing his maniacal little head off.

Together with perfect symmetry, the partners decimated the remaining Dolls.

WCWCWC

Wufei sneered with malicious glee as he latched onto the final X90 with his dragon fire. The close contact with a continuous blast of Nataku's flame melted the X90's shoulder joint and the black canon arm soon fell to the earth below.

Echoes of Solaris's heart wrenching sobs drove his fury higher, and he threw everything he had into the battle leaving little room for the machine to retaliate.

Wufei sent Nataku in close and wrapped the dragon around the X90, pinning in a grim parody of a hug. Pulling the Gundanium dagger free, Nataku sank the blade into the X90's metallic skull and ripped it forward out of it's face.

A flicker on the side of his view screen had him spinning to face another enemy and came face to face with Solaris' Nightshade.

"Thank you." The voice across the comm was soft with suppressed grief.

"A thing like that should not exist." He paused, "and they killed members of our family. The six of us are all we have left. The loss of two children, even unknown, is a painful wound."

Smoke and fire erupted out of the mountainside. "Looks like Duo has finished. Lets clear out the Dolls and go home."

…Time skip… Am skipping Endless Waltz!!!

Small groups of insurgents still caused as much disruption to the peace treaty as possible, but as soon as one small group of the oz soldiers popped out of hiding the Gundam pilots took them out with stunning ferocity. When not hunting down the remaining troops the six protected Relena Peacecraft and her reformed brother. Relena proved her strength time and time again as she stood against the threat of assassination which came almost weekly, and mistrust of the colonies. Nevertheless, with the aid of many countries and the Pilots she was forging a peace treaty that would not be easily broken.

Relena offered a light sentence to any Oz rebel who turned themselves in. Few took the generous offer.

Instead, they gathered together to make one final, kamikaze blow against the symbol of peace.

HHHH

Heero frowned in irritation at his surveillance equipment. He couldn't get a steady reading from one minute to the next. He kept track of everything within a ten mile radius of the Peacecraft mansion, including the air and water. Unease grew tightening his stomach. Duo had always told him to listen to his instincts as long as they weren't telling him to self destruct.

Flipping a radio switch he began to snap out orders. "All units to alert status! Unit B do a flight sweep of the perimeter. Look for anything out of place, I mean anything! Unit A go to Red status. Unit C begin a manual check on all perimeter equipment. Somethings messing my system and I want to know what it is! 03, 05 take up defensive positions. 02 do a stealth patrol ahead of Unit B. 04, 06 stay with Relena and the other dignitaries."

A flood of confirmations filled the radio waves, and then went silent as everyone ran to follow orders.

Heero bent over his keyboard and went to work trying to trace the bug in his system.

Ten point twenty-four minutes later, all hell broke loose.

TBC

Sadly short I know. It was a good break point, and I am working on the next one already. Hopefully it won't take me 3 months this time. :P


	49. Chapter 49

I suppose I should mention that Relena is not quite as much of a pacifist in my version…

Fair warning I switch pov a lot.

DDDD

Duo grumbled and muttered as Deathscythe powered out the hanger door, shimmering out of sight. "Can't we even get one week before they try something else?" Unit B's helicopters took to the air in a wide formation behind him with agreeing grumbles through the headsets.

It was a beautiful day. He had been on the way to the pool. All he had on under his flight suit were board shorts. It itched horribly.

"Heero if this is a false alarm you owe me. You own me big. I'm going to start making a list now, and you can get on it as soon as I get home." Duo sneered. All he got over the headset in reply was an absentminded 'hn'.

"Ignore me all you like, I'll still drag you out of that blasted room to wait on my every whim."

Two miles out from the mansion, the clean lawn quickly turned into dense woods with towering trees. Duo flew low enough that the force of his passage set branches gusting about wildly. It wasn't like there was anyone out here to hid from anyway. He whooped and sent Deathscythe into a corkscrew.

Pulling out of the spin just before he smashed into the trees, Duo adjusted his angle and corkscrewed the opposite way. Alarms started blaring throughout the cockpit. About twenty missiles locked onto his Gundam. They ranged wide in types from the Vipers to Neo-strikes. They arched out of the woods around him with deadly grace and pale smoke trails.

"Crap! 01! Heero, there is live fire. Repeat live fire in quadrant four. Light to heavy artillery." Duo wrenched his controls back to shoot straight up They've got to be using some time of cloak I didn't see them coming until the missiles launched."

Unit B scattered rapidly to avoid the missiles that, not having hit Deathscythe, continued on a destructive path. One chopper pilot veered the wrong way and right into another missile. The helicopter exploded in a shower of vicious metal and flame.

"No! Bastards!" Duo snarled. "01, we have a man down and still no visual on the enemy."

"Roger sending Heavyarms and Nataku your way."

"Thanks buddy!"

HHHH

Heero snarled, he hated being blind. His computers still weren't running. "Unit C, watch your backs out there. Enemies are in the area. I need my system up and running. I can take them all out from here if you fix it."

"Yes sir. We are on it. Not finding anything unusual yet though sir."

Unit C was racing through the woodland trails in light armored jeeps. If they ran into the enemy launching missiles, they were sitting ducks, but he needed his eyes and security systems. He had designed it to do what the Gundams could not, see under the trees, and take out nearly anything hiding in there without excessive damage. The Gundams would level the forest. The war was over. The world was trying to heal. He did not want to damage it further.

SSSS

Solaris guided Relena, and the other dignitaries, plus the few servants staying here, at the mansion, down into the hanger. That was where Nightshade and Wing were kept along with several armored vehicles. This was the safest place in the mansion. However, that was not saying much. If it became compromised, she would load her charges into the vehicles, covering them on the way out with Nightshade.

QQQ

Quatre had Sandrock guarding the east side on the mansion. His back itched knowing the other boys were fighting to the west. He longed to go and help them, but it would be logical for the enemies to be approaching from multiple directions. They could not leave anything open to attack. When Heero's system was working, he'd tell them exactly where to strike.

Something ticked on his radar. He glanced down at his console just as alarms blared furious warning. Five missiles. There had to be tanks in there. Nothing else could launch shells that big except Leos, and those should all have been destroyed. The Ozzies threw nearly a hundred of the machines at them every day for a week. After that, only a couple made an appearance. They had assumed that all the Leos were scrap-metal.

Looming figures strode out from the concealing trees. They had assumed wrong.

Quatre raised his scimitars poised for battle.

TTTTT

Branches cracked and splintered and the younger trees collapsed to the ground, as Trowa pushed Heavyarms into full speed to reach his comrades. He could see the black smoke from the lost helicopter with flashes of smaller missiles and MS bullets exploding around a furious Deathscythe. The black support Unit B's copters were spread out to create smaller targets. They fired randomly into the trees attempting to flush out the enemy.

As he approached the battle, Trowa calculated the source of the most aggressive firepower. Heavyarms opened its chest hatch releasing a hail of deadly missiles into the targeted area.

After several violent explosions, all activity from the site fell still. Trowa turned his attention to the next clustered source while Duo fought to shield the helicopters.

"Trowa, I don't know if we can win this without killing anyone! They just keep firing and I can't see them in the forest."

Relena's voice crackled onto the comm., "As much as I hate to say this, these men have been offered peace time and time again, yet still they attack us. They have turned from feral dogs to infection rabid ones. There are senators and their children here. You must protect them at all costs. Use of deadly force is allowed if required to do so." A hitch in her breath indicated her pain and distaste of the order. "I don't like this, but we can not let them rampage onward destroying lives and disrupting the people efforts at peace."

"Acknowledged." It was a simultaneous agreement from all pilots.

The helicopters immediately targeted in on any slight indication of the enemy and released their missiles in a deadly rain of explosive fire. Now, they didn't have to wait for the much harder no-kill shot.

Trowa did much the same. It was time to kill the Oz dogs.

HHH

Heero shoved away from the computer console. Forget this. "Unit C, return to base and suit up for combat. We'll fix the system later."

"Roger that!"

Heero tossed his com set on desk and sprinted for the hanger where Wing waited.

www

Wufei flew over Trowa and razed the forest with fire. The damages to the precious trees made him wince, but he continued. The enemy's missiles would cause just as much damage and likely take out their comrades as well.

Duo's scythe arched down through the trees with poisonness green accuracy.

"Duck, Wuffers!"

"Duo!" he protested the slurring of his name even as he threw Nataku forward to its knees. Deathscythe's blade whistled over his head and into an anti-tank Leo.

"Thanks,"

"No prob. Bro!" Duo cheered and swooped high over the trees again.

HHH

The metal walkway rattled under Heero's pounding feet. Below on the hanger floor he could see Solaris loading her charges into the armored Suburban's. Nightshade stood already powered up beside Wing.

"Heero!"

He leaned over the railing, "Hurry, there are more enemies then we thought. You might have to escort them out."

"Roger that." Solaris shouted back.

Heero powered Wing up and carefully stepped past the dignitaries and their children before taking to the air outside the hanger doors. Sandrock blipped on his radar a half mile to the west. He could see red blips surrounding Quatre and he flew to provide support. Upon arrival, he could see four tanks and thirty Leos.

Oz rebels had been stocking up.

SSS

Solaris ushered the children into their seats beside their mothers. "Make sure they are buckled tight. It might be a rough ride if we have to leave. The mansion is not capable of withstanding a strong attack."

Relena offered a weeping woman some comfort, "The boys will do their best to protect us, and if we have to leave I just know Solaris will get us out of here safely. Moreover, Unit D is the best set of drivers you could have! So we'll all be perfectly fine!" 

Just as the soldiers, driving the suburbans strapped in, the house shook violently. Someone had slipped through the boy's guard. Solaris rode the cord back up to the cockpit. Another volley had the hanger walls buckling as they took the weight of the crumpled mansion. The metal railing groaned and squealed, snapping under the onslaught and crashing to the floor. It just barely missed the suburbans.

Echoing booms sounded like about ten Leos attacking with Neo vipers missiles to Solaris. There was no way the mansion or hanger would survive another round of that.

She flipped her headset on. "Unit D, Move out now!"

The four vehicles left black, rubber streaks across the cement floor as they shot for the reopening, hanger doors. Nightshade stomped after the cars its running speed, shattering cement and leaving small craters. AS soon as she was out the doors and had room, Solaris spread Nightshade's black wings and soared out over the suburban's ready to shield them from any incoming attacks.

A mere quarter mile down the road, the mansion fully collapsed under one final volley.

"Heero, we are on the road nearly a mile out now. All are clear from the mansion."

"What about Unit A?" he asked.

"All present and accounted for, sir! We hadn't reached the hanger yet, meaning we aren't suited up." 

"Then get clear of the battle zone. We wouldn't want to step on you by accident." Heero stated with dry humor.

"Aye, aye, Sir! We will attempt to catch up with 06 and help escort the civilians."

"Roger that." Both Heero and Solaris answered.

DDDD

Duo cussed a blue streak when a barrage slammed into Deathscythe and his thrusters faltered, forcing him to land. "Bleepin', things are always getting blown out of commission. I swear that was the worst thing Doc Mushroom ever did on Scythe. They need more reinforcement. Hate bein' grounded."

He landed behind Heavyarms. "Hey buddy! Your barrels aren't empty yet are they?"

"Of course not." Trowa sneered.

"Just askin', just askin'. Sheesh."

The three pilots in the fourth quadrant forced their large Gundams to trek through the dense forest in search and destroy mode.

"Man who knew there was this many of the Ozzie buggers left!" Duo grumbled, after dodging a tank shell while taking out three Leos.

Wufei's dragon breathed a heavy stream of fire over his enemies. "They have been hiding like cowards instead of accepting that the war is truly over."

Trowa tracked multiple targets by their firing angle and sent out a rain of smart missiles to take out over thirty Oz suits. A small smirk stole across his face when he caught a 'showoff' from both of his brothers.

QQQQ

Quatre heaved an immense sigh of relief, when Wing transformed from jet mode above him white wings spreading wide. "Heero, thank you for coming to the party."

Wing fired a shower of bullets in a full circle around Quatre, giving the blond some room to breath before more Ozzie Leos stepped over the ring of their fallen comrades to attack.

Heero spoke over the comm., "I'm tracking another hundred suits within Wings radar. Solaris and Relena just left my range. I have no idea how so many suits bypassed my security. Even without the computers. We all placed traps out there they had to get around."

"It doesn't really matter. We'll finish this and then build another, better system," Quatre soothed.

"Hn."

SSSS

Solaris cursed as another trio of Leos stepped out from the trees ahead of them. She'd just taken out six. It was hard fighting while still covering the cars. Rushing the suits, she lashed out with the chain sword slicing through them all in one smooth movement.

The radar kept blipping with red dots; not all moving towards her, but enough. The journey down the road progressed mile, by slow mile, as more of the Ozzies got the message that the senators were on the move. Each time she was faced with the enemy there were more of them.

"Kuso!" she swore. Nearly twenty suits block the road. "Stay back!" she yelled to the drivers, diving straight into the fray again cursing the fact that Nightshade was a solely close-range machine.

"Boys, you'd better be just about done dancing around in the forest with the pansies! I'm not sure how many I can take out before they get to the cars!"

"Roger that. Will be enroute ASAP."

"Make it fast, Heero. More of these guys show up every time I turn around. I can't fight them all and shield the cars."

"I'll be there soon, sis. Trowa and Wuffers can handle what's left here." Duo cut over Heero.

"Thanks. Sooner is better." 

Solaris took out the Leos and three tanks. Their metal bodies created an efficient roadblock. The suburbans crept behind her as Nightshade shoved the way clear. They made it another mile and Unit A joined them on the road. Not that they were any help, having no weapons capable of taking out Leos or tanks.

Solaris flew in looping circles over the convey darting into the trees to take out anyone that dared get close enough. The fact that the Ozzies were keeping a distance now puzzled her as enough of them could probably get to the senators. Instead, they were forming a ring around them three hundred yards out. Beyond the range, she dared leave the cars.

Suddenly a mass of red exploded on all sides of her radar! It was missiles. Hundreds of them. There was no way the cars would escape. They were surrounded by a wall of firepower. There was only one slight possibility of their survival. She doubted her own as she threw herself over the bunched convey, wrapping them in her black wings. Nightshade back was completely exposed. The seconds ticked eternally by and then she was struck by sheer, roaring noise. The heat came next. There was no describing the heat. It was beyond hell. The impact of the direct hits forced the Gundam down further, belly scraping over the roofs of the vehicles.

Solaris fought gravity to keep from flatting the people beneath her. She could see nothing. Her viewing screens had shattered. Later she knew, assuming they survived, there would be a lot of pain.

"Guys, you better hurry. We can't take anymore." The com was out too. Superheated metal groaned around her as she sank into darkness, knowing the wetness creeping over her back had to be a bad thing.

TBC

Well it is one of my longest chpts!!! Is she dead… not yet no. Later peeps!


	50. Chapter 50

Hello again. I hope to make this the last chpt we will see if it happens. There will not be much more either way.

Word to the medical know-it-alls. I am taking extreme liberties and totally winging it my way, so if it does not seem perfectly sound medically just bear with me please!

Just a quick reminder of last time….

_Solaris took out the Leos and three tanks. Their metal bodies created an efficient roadblock. The suburban caravan crept down the road behind her as Nightshade shoved the way clear. They made it another mile and Unit A joined them on the road from a forest track. Not, that they were any help, having no weapons capable of taking out Leos or tanks. _

_Solaris flew in looping circles over the convey darting into the trees to take out anyone that dared get close enough. The fact that the Ozzies were keeping a distance now puzzled her as enough there were enough to surround her and get to her charges. Instead, they were forming a ring around them six hundred yards out. Beyond the range, she dared leave the cars. _

_Suddenly a mass of red exploded on all sides of her radar! It was missiles. Hundreds of them. The Leos hade made them the center of a firestorm. There was no way the cars could escape. She could easily. She would not. There was only one slight possibility of the senators' survival. While throwing her Gundam over the bunched convey, wrapping them in her black wings, Solaris doubted her own. Nightshade's back was completely exposed. _

_The seconds ticked eternally by, and then she was struck by sheer, roaring noise. The heat came next. There was no describing the heat. It was beyond hell. The impact of the direct missile hits forced the Gundam down further. Its hydraulics straining to meet her demands as the belly was scraping the roofs of the vehicles. _

_Solaris fought gravity to keep from flatting the people beneath her. She could see nothing outside. Her viewing screens had shattered. The only thing she had to go on was the lights flashing crimson warnings. They indicated systems failure across the board. Diverting all power to the hydraulic systems in the wings and arms, Solaris kept the Gundam crouched over the convoy. _

"_Guys, you better hurry. We can't take anymore." The com was out too._

_Superheated metal groaned around her as she sank into darkness, knowing the lack of feeling in her body had to be a bad thing. Later she would feel every wound but a little pain would be good to remind her she was alive. _

Hdtqw

Heero was the first to see the great plume of arching missiles there was nothing he could do to stop them. Like in a horrendous nightmare, he was forced to watch helplessly as the explosion rocked the countryside, knowing that Relena and Solaris were in the very middle of it.

The Leos didn't even bother to fire a second round. Dismissing the heap of burning metal in the crater, they turned to meet the furious Gundam pilots converging to destroy them. The tower of flame called a rage into the very souls of the boys.

What followed classified as wholesale slaughter.

The remaining Oz soldiers fell by the dozens as the pilots claimed revenge for their fallen sister. In the end, only smoking remains lay strewn about the five Gundams.

Duo reached the crater before the others and used Deathscythe to pull Nightshade out of its impenetrable, defensive ball. Seeing the twisted mass of molten metal left him no hope of finding any life within. The black wings fell away from the Gundam at Deathscythe's touch, the explosion having severed them from the Solaris's Gundam. Dragging Nightshade to the side, he found the cars beneath singed but intact.

Unit A blinked dazedly up into the daylight from their jeep. Quatre jumped out to check them for severe injury while Heero and Trowa pulled open the Suburban doors. Inside the safety of the cars, sat the senators and their families, frightened and ears ringing, but otherwise completely unharmed. Relena clung to Heero a long minute before pulling herself together and kneeling down to comforted the children.

The other Units who had stayed behind to clean up the stragglers on the far side of the mansion soon arrived having already called for Med responders.

WDWDW

Wufei headed straight for Solaris's cockpit as soon as Duo had the Gundam laid out on its back. Hopefully, moving her hadn't done more damage. Hopefully, she was still alive in there for it to even matter. Wufei was hoping harder than he ever had before in his life.

The front of the Gundam looked nearly untouched in comparison to the back. Duo came scrambling up the machine's great arm to kneel beside his brother as the seal on the cockpit hissed and pulled aside. The smell hit them like a wall. It was of blood, cooked flesh, and melted plastic.

Seeing inside was worse. The only female member of their team laid deathly limp on her back in the seat. Plasma glass from her viewing screens stuck out of her like perverse needles drawing blood, which ran in thin rivulets over her skin. Some of Solaris's skin was superheated pink indicating second-degree burns, the rest of it turning purple from impact bruises. The worst thing of all, making Wufei want to puke was the blood pooling below her seat.

They did not dare try to pull her out until they knew where she was injured. Wufei pushed the fried computer consol aside and climbed to lean over her. No sign of stirring flickered on her face. That was good for now no need for her to feel more pain then necessary.

The source of the blood was not obvious until he twisted to see the backside of her seat. Horror kept him frozen.

"Wufei! What is it? Tell me what you see," Duo demanded.

Wufei choked back tears and pulled himself back out of the cockpit, there was nothing they could do anyway, not before the med team got here.

"Wufei!"

"She's, she's… there is a support rod lodged in her back."

"What!" Duo stuttered. "No. Well, we have to do something! Help me get her out!"

Wufei caught Duo's trembling wrist when he started to climb down. "We can't! That rod is probably all that is keeping her from bleeding to death. You know that. If we take her out before the med team is here she will die in a matter of minutes."

Duo sobbed and crumpled to his knees. "Why? It was all supposed to be over."

"I don't know." As much as for his own comfort as for Duo's Wufei knelt and wrapped his arms around his brother. They couldn't cut the rod for all their tools were back in the collapsed hanger. All they could do was hope she didn't wake up, so she didn't have to feel it.

HTQ

Quatre gasped and clutched his chest. "Guys something's wrong. Where are the others? Have they gotten Solaris out yet?"

Heero looked around. "They are just sitting up on Nightshade. I don't see Solaris though," he added, a sense of cold creeping into his own chest. He sprinted for the fallen Gundam the other two at his heels.

Wufei's black eyes were terrifying when they reached them. He stared up at them blankly. Tears streaked Duo's face as he clung to Wufei.

"Where is Solaris?"

"Heero." Trowa was peering into the cockpit. Heero looked to and whirled on the others. "She's still breathing why haven't you gotten 06 out!"

"Can't." Wufei answered too calmly, staring over Duo's head at nothing.

"05. Report now! Why haven't you gotten 06 out?" Heero snarled to snap Wufei out of his shock.

"Because she's bloody well impaled in there and she'll die if we do!" he raged back. Quatre whimpered and wrapped the kneeling two in his arms.

Trowa climbed out, "he's right. We'll have to wait. The Med team should be here soon."

Heero spun away and stood stonily watching the senators and Unit teams comforting the children in the distance. He wanted to wish they were all dead. They were why Solaris had not just gotten out of the way. It was their fault. However, he could not hate them for their mere presence on the battlefield. Oz was the one truly at fault and they were all dead.

They waited watching the blood pool slowly growing. The med finally arrived in five big choppers. Heero was running to grab the first team before they even landed. One of the senators tried to get them to help his concussed wife and Heero clocked him.

"Heero! What's going on? Is Solaris hurt?" Relena ran with them.

Heero just urged them faster. Carrying the 60-pound cutter from the chopper like it was no heavier than a pillow he clambered onto the Gundam. Trowa was there and pulling the med team up behind him.

Now that there was something, they could actually do the five boys snapped together and moved with seamless efficiency. Heero climbed into the cockpit and Duo handed down the cutter. He used the great pincers to snip the rod as close to the seat as he could. Duo took it back tossing the expensive machine aside to climb down as well. He accepted a neck brace from a medic and they locked it around her neck.

Quatre being the smallest slid underneath the seat steadying the rod as Heero and Duo lifted Solaris up. He guided the metal up through the seat until it disappeared into the hole it created. With no room to maneuver around the others, he could only watch as the team did their best to lift her all the way out with out causing more injury. The two-inch rod was dangerously close to her spin. He quickly locked that disturbing thought far away into his mind.

As the medics could not lay her on her back they braced her up on her side, the hover stretcher humming as it bore her weight. Relena stood to side watching hand covering her mouth in shock. The boys just kept on helping the medics guide the stretch off the front of the Gundam to the waiting chopper.

"Wufei you ride with. We'll follow in one of the Unit's helicopters," Quatre ordered.

WWWW

The seemingly long ride to the hospital passed with three medics working constantly over Solaris to stabilize her. They had a blood infusion started two minutes into the air after he told them her type. Watching as they pulled out as many of the glass shards as they could Wufei realized that this was the worst any of them had ever been wounded. And, the war was supposed to be over. It should have finally been over. The idea made hysterical laughter build up. He crammed it back down to join the lump in his throat.

As soon as the chopper landed, the medics were whisking Solaris out of his sight. The huge helipad quickly accepted the Unit helicopter's clearance and the other four joined him on the tar. Once again, there was nothing they could do. Slowly the boys moved into the waiting room.

The five Gundam pilots claimed the far corner, so they could see all the exits of the large chair-filled room, waiting with numb, shock-induced patience. Being helpless did not suit them. During the war rarely were they ever injured to a point were they could not fix it up themselves.

An hour passed and Relena and the Units joined them. Everyone else returned to their homes having been seen to and been given care by the doctors. The servants that had been in the cars went to another of Relena's houses. Still they waited.

Exactly 5hrs 43min later a nurse walked into the door and called for the family of Solaris Taiga. Jumping to their feet the boys were on the poor woman before she could call out again. Relena and the Unit teams waited in the corner. As much as they liked Solaris, it was only the boys she counted as family.

Quatre fired out questions. "How is she? What took so long? Were there complications?"

The nurse stepped back, "Please, if you just wait I will take you to the doctor. He can answer all your questions."

Trowa laid a calming hand on Quatre. "Lead on."

The nurse squeaked and clutched the clipboard to her chest. "Of course." Scurrying away the small woman brought them to an office two levels down.

The doctor proved to be an average looking man his white coat hung on a stand just inside the door. "Please sit down and I will tell you about your sister. Would you like more chairs to be brought in? I am afraid I normally do not have more than three in my office."

"We will stand. Please sir, tell us, how is Solaris?"

The doctor nodded, "very well. My name is Dr. Derins. First, let me say, she is alive. We have her under close watch in ICU. Provided she does not get any infections she should been able to live a long happy life.

Duo crossed his arms, "But?"

"But," Dr, Derins sighed, "the metal rod we pulled from her back was very close to her spine. In fact, it clipped it. She is paralyzed from the lower ribs down."

"And? This is the best hospital is it not? Surely you can repair it with the medical advances we've made." Quatre snarled.

"Normally yes, however the rod and impacts have somehow fractured over seven of the vertebrae. The bones are shattered. They are barely holding their shape. Even we cannot do anything with this much damage. I am not even sure why she is still alive. Most people with this amount of spinal fractures die instantly."

"Solaris is not most people. She is a Gundam pilot and our sister. She will not go so easily. If you can not help her then we will find someone who can," Heero growled.

"I am sorry. There is no one who can."

Silence reigned for a long minute as wills contested. Dr. Derins shivered, breaking eye contact.

Heero sneered, "We want to see her.

"Of course. ICU is this way. Keep in mind that she is not going to look very good. There are many things hooked up to keep her alive and pain free. The burns and bruising have been treated, but it will take some time for them to heal. She will likely have several scars from the glass and burns."

Duo raised his arms, giving them a cursory glance and glared at the doctor. "Scars, you think we care about scars! We all have scars!"

"I'm just trying to prepare you."

"I want to see my sister!"

Following the nervous doctor through the sterilized halls, they pondered what they could do to help Solaris. They wouldn't give up on her. Ever.

The ICU beeped incessantly with the many machines whirring and humming, keeping the people within alive. Solaris did look bad, paler than death. A blood bag hung opposite the IV dripping into her veins. Numerous other things attached somewhere to her body.

"She likely will not be waking up until tomorrow sometime. It always seems to help if you talk to the patient." Dr. Derins said sympathetically. "Only one of you can stay in here at a time if you want to make up some kind of schedule between all of you that would be best."

"We will figure it out."

SSSSSS

Everything felt disconnected, as if she was trying to pilot Nightshade, only it was her own body. It did not hurt, but it was all wrong. Solaris focus just on getting her fingers to twitch. She thought that maybe it had worked when Trowa's worried, relieved face appeared over hers. His mouth was moving but it took several seconds for the sound of his voice to penetrate the fog.

"You are awake! Everyone has been very worried about you. Do not try to move. The Doctor will be in here soon, along with the others."

She could only blink muzzily up at him. It seemed like she should stay awake; nevertheless, the soft blackness tugged her back down into its embrace.

The next time she woke the room was dim and a blond head lay near her hand. She managed to stroke a finger through his hair before she slept again.

Finally, her body actually felt like hers. It did not feel right, but she was connected again.

Wufei was reading in the chair beside her.

"Hey," she said or tried to it came out more like a strangled croak.

His head shot up so fast she heard his neck crack. "Solaris! Here I will get you some ice chips. The Doctor said your throat would be dry."

It was obvious they had been well prepared for her awakening, as he did not go further then a side table where a cooler sat and brought a small cup of the back. Wufei spooned one carefully into her mouth where the blessed coolness spread over her tongue and down her throat. It melted all too soon but he gave her more immediately.

After several more, she tried again to talk. "Hey."

"That's better. The others will be here soon. I'm sure the Doctor will be to."

"How is everyone?" she whispered.

"Fine they are all fine. Except you. Your Gundam took most of the missiles explosion."

"Feels weird. Like not every thing is connected right."

His normally caramel skin turned white.

"Tell me I would rather hear it from you then the Doctor!" she hissed.

"You were impaled by a support rod it shattered half your spinal cord. They say they cannot fix it. It is somehow holding together because of how it shattered but one wrong move and it could kill you. The Doctor said you will have to remain completely still until the bones fuse solid. That's all they can do." His voice started to crack.

Solaris could not really respond. What could she say? "I'm paralyzed?"

"From your lower ribs down." He bent his head down until it almost touched his knees.

"Oh." She guessed that was why her own body felt strange; she had thought it was just the pain drugs.

"Miss Taiga awake at last I see," a male Doctor strode into the room. Wufei stepped aside let him near. "My name is Doctor Derins, how are you feeling?"

"Paralyzed apparently." She said with dull bitterness.

"Oh my, you already know! I suppose that saves me from having to break it to you. I am sure this is quite a shock, but Miss Taiga it is not the end of the world. There are still a lot of options to explore in life even in your condition!"

"Other than informing me of my 'condition' as you put it, is there any particular reason you are in here?" Solaris asked barely concealing the anger.

"I need to do some nerve and reaction tests. We can not do all of them; however, as you must remain as still as possible to avoid more damage to your spine."

The next several days were spent with her still sleeping more often than not. One of the boys was always there. It was a comfort not to be alone. The Doctor had tried to make them back off once she woke up, but a few select calls were made and he soon found Relena and Sally in his face.

They named a new, better Doctor at a different hospital as her caretaker. The move to the new hospital required a great deal of fuss as it had to be as gentle as possible. Solaris watched the proceedings throughout the journey down to the watching ambulance with no small amount of amusement. Her boys formed a barrier around her gurney. Guns, or a sword in Wufei's case, were obviously handled with implied threat to the surrounding public. Quatre's men and the Unit soldiers marched ahead and behind to keep the path clear so that no jostling could possibly come to her bed.

If the reason for all of this mess wasn't quite so drastic Solaris knew she would be laughing her head off. As it was, she accepted fuss with out complaint. She didn't want to be a burden or drag to her brothers. Freedom was supposed to be theirs at last, and here they were stuck tending to a paralyzed girl.

Nurses, patients, and their visitors lined the halls peering out the doorways watching the strange procession. She heard the reporters long before the procession entered the lobby.

"Trowa. How many vultures are there?"

He glanced down at her with a soft smile that quickly disappeared when he looked back at the crowd waiting outside the doors. "About fifty reporters."

"Really! I didn't know I was that news worthy!"

Their escorts formed a solid wedge to get them through the crowd into the waiting ambulance. Their presence did not stop the continuous clicks and hums of the reporters' cameras.

SSSSS

It was a relief to Solaris that the Doctors and nurses of the new hospital knew how to talk to her about her condition without being either patronizing or pitying. She was a Gundam pilot she would handle this. She just wished her brothers would let her. She could see the pain and weariness dragging them down. The news reports did not make things any easier. Letters and calls poured into the hospital. Some people were encouraging, the large amount hateful.

Two weeks passed quickly and her spine was still to fragile to risk much movement. Being confined too continuous bed rest made her a very irritable patient. After many long and furious conversations, Solaris got her brothers to leave her alone over the nights, albeit with a gun and knife near at hand.

She missed their long conversations about the future. The topic was a common one before the last battle. Now the boys never mentioned the subject as though it was taboo. At first, they would say something like when you get out of here we will… and then they would catch themselves, apologize, and change the subject. Knowing they were just trying to spare her pain did not make it hurt any less. It only drove home that she was worthless and dragging them down.

Even worse were the whispered conversations outside her door. The boys often forgot that her hearing was hypersensitive. Quatre often started cursing in his native language when the door closed behind him. She only knew enough to catch a few words. 'Stupid, utterly useless,' After that, he moved far enough down the hall that she couldn't catch the rest of the words, but her brain supplied many possibilities, most based upon her condition.

Once a change of shifts Duo had whispered to Heero that he was, 'so tired, and can't keep doing this.' That had hurt more than learning of her injury. He was the closest of her brothers and he was giving up on her. Solaris hated herself even more for that. She wanted them to move on make lives for themselves. Wanted to lean on them and sob. Cling to them and never let go.

This conflict of emotion kept her from either clinging to them for solace or completely rejecting all comfort.

Life, if you could call it that, continued in this fashion for two and a half weeks while she lay bedridden. Even a Gundam pilot's unnatural healing could repair this kind of injury in a timely manner. Nurses continually brought letters into her room, the boys religiously sorting through the mail to allow her only those offering hope and blessings.

Solaris was allowed to read this herself as long as she laid flat on her back. The gratefulness of many of the letters gave her a little more peace about her own suffering. She was paralyzed, but it had happen while protecting many families from the pain of death. It made it seem a bit more worthwhile.

It was nightfall and she was alone in silence when a new letter brought an end too it all.

The carefully coded information within could only be written by one person. It made her realize this half-life had to end. She could not keep asking her brothers to suffer with her, and she refused to live like this, chained to a bed. Carefully planning was required to fool the boys long enough for her to accomplish it and she only had two days.

First, destroying the letter. Solaris systematically soaked and shredded the note until it was nothing more than an unidentifiable mash of sopping paper and running ink. The nurse checking her vitals gave it a questioning look.

Solaris offered a sheepish smile, "I was bored. Hey, do you think you could do me a couple of favors?"

wwww

Therefore, the beginning of the end came about, and two days later Wufei arrived to sit with Solaris only to find the bed empty and the morning shift of nurses standing around in worried puzzlement.

"Where is Solaris?"

"Mr. Chang!" one relieved looking nurse hurried over. "We knew you would be getting here soon. None of us knows what happened. Sarah came about fifteen minutes ago to give Ms. Taiga her first round of meds for the day and she was gone. None of the night nurses mentioned anything strange about last night. There was just this on her pillow. We didn't open it knowing one of you boys would be here soon."

Wufei tried in vain to keep his hand from trembling in fear as he took the folded sketchpad paper from the nurse. "Thank you." The vague thought of calling the others whispered to him, but the letter held his full focus. Solaris what have you done. She had been acting off the last few days. They had thought it just irritation and stress from being strapped to a bed twenty-four seven.

The letter was fold in such a way as to hold it shut with out glue or tape. Wufei carefully peeled it apart to reveal beautifully written, purple kanji. How she managed to write so neatly confined to her back was a mystery, but not an important one. He began to read.

_Dearest brothers, _

_I am so sorry to leave you like this, but I cannot live like this. I am dragging you down. We are supposed to be free now. Free to choose our own lives and be happy. I am keeping you from choosing your freedom, so I am choosing mine. _

_Being confined too a bed or chair for the rest of my life is not freedom. I am a Gundam pilot. I am supposed to be able to protect and save people. How can I like this? _

_I know my leaving like this will cause you pain for awhile and I am sorry, so very sorry. It hurts me to cause any of you pain, but this way it will finally be done. You can heal and move on. If I stayed, it would become more like a slow, suffocating death. _

_I will not tell you my plan. I don't want you coming after me. You will not find anything. Please forgive me and allow me this. By the time, you are reading this it will be to late to go back anyway. _

_Know only that I love all of you with everything I have to give. Please help each other heal and chose lives that will make you happy. Not what you think you are expected too do but what you want to do. _

_With all my love and sorrow,_

_Solaris Roku Taiga, Gundam pilot 06, aka Nightshade_

THE END Yes the very very end.

Now the very first thing I want to say is that I have absolutely nothing against people that have been paralyzed, nor do I think they are helpless or worthless. I have a friend at work that is paralyzed, and he is one of the coolest people to work with. This is just the way the story wanted to end, so I do not want any people snapping at me about how I am predgidous or something because I am totally not.

Next, yes I know it is a painful ending, and you all want to kill me for it. What I really want to know is whether you guys will read the sequel if I post it??? I have one completely written already it merely needs typed in, but I am probably not going to bother if no one will read it! Therefore, I need to know if you want it!


End file.
